


This ain't High School Musical

by Maerchenmord



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Coming of Age, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Has OCD, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Puberty Struggles, Strangers to Friends, Teenage Shenanigans, Teenagers being dramatic, Tiny Time Skips - Talking Days here, Underage Drinking, We all know that they can be a little over the top, Yeah don't give me that look
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-11-17 22:41:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18107954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maerchenmord/pseuds/Maerchenmord
Summary: Being the new kid can be daunting but Eren has always adapted easily and is quick to make friends, when he transfers to Trost High in the middle of the year. Admittedly, he didn't quite expect to meet a horse, a modern-day amazon and the star of the school on his very first day.New aquaintences, masses of homework and - most of all - growing up will be challenging at times.Even more difficult? Falling in love, first kisses and understanding and accepting who you really are.OR: The author is tired of sad rape stories with suicidal thoughts and tragic backstories, chapter 115 fics are killing her and she wants some damn happiness for these poor characters. You want to read somethingnicewith fluff, first times, some humor and a bit of teenage awkwardness? This is for you! I'm going to soothe our bleeding hearts and if it's the last thing I do! ♥





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

„And that… would be the library.”

 

Eren nodded with big eyes, doing his best to give off the impression that he was actually still listening to Armin. His brain had shut off a long, long while ago, somewhere between the cafeteria and the infirmary, but the blond teenager had dragged him through the whole building with iron determination and a mental layout of the school only rivaled by google maps.

 

That’s the vice president of the student council for you, but Eren didn’t hold it against him.

 

Armin was nice enough. A little shy maybe, when it came to casual conversation but obviously very enthusiastic, when he felt in his element and giving him a tour of the premises apparently fell into that category.

 

“Uhm, I…” _Ah, there was shy Armin again._ “I guess it’s a little much all at once but this way you can at least recognize where you are? You got a plan of the building with your files and, uh… Now you’ll know when you’ve reached your destination.”

 

The brunette chuckled and gave his classmate an encouraging nod. “Yes, that was really nice of you. Thanks man.”

 

Armin blushed – _blushed!_ – and Eren grinned good-naturedly, hiding his internal giggle. Who turned red from a simple ‘Thank you’ aside from characters in tacky romance novels? The boy was too damn precious for his own good and while Armin looked like your typical A+ nerd – small, pale, timid – and probably spent 90% of his free time studying for shit, Eren already liked him.

 

After all, it wasn’t like he was that much different.

 

In the looks department, maybe. Eren could at least say that he came across as someone who had seen the sun once or twice in his life, but despite that and even with his grades not being topnotch, he was kind of a geeky guy.

 

Lots of online gaming and Dungeon and Dragons. Being an avid anime fan didn’t help either. Overall definitely not sports club material.

 

People tended to like him at first glance, and he considered himself easy to talk to, but making real friends was a different matter when few individuals could relate to what the hell you were talking about most of the time.

 

Going out to do some bullshit?  
Fair enough.  
Having actual quality time? Real conversations? Sharing hobbies?  
Not so much.

 

Luckily, it didn’t bother him, or at least it hadn’t in the past. There had always been a select few he could surround himself with, who were on the same wavelength and Eren could only hope, that he would be able to make similar connections here.

 

Until now though, he hadn’t really met any of his future classmates aside from the blond boy with a knack for school bureaucracy and after spending the day trailing Armin like a lost puppy, he had gotten a good idea why his skills were appreciated here.

 

This wasn’t a school building, it was a god damn fortress, a city within walls, a freaking campus pressed into concrete. Trost High was probably one of the biggest schools in the country with its almost 5000 students and as of today, Eren was one of them.

 

The principal had already told him before his transfer, that they usually went with a two-day introduction, to make sure people didn’t get lost in the vast space of this modern-day Hogwarts and knew how things worked around here. Alas, Eren was switching schools in the middle of the year and he felt a little bit relieved, that he hadn’t had to be the only sophomore, running around with a horde of freshmen on their first day in high school.

 

Hence the private tour by Mr. Arlert here.

 

“D-Do you, uh, have any questions?” _God, so precious._

 

“Na, I’m cool.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and winked. “Except there’s anything else I _should_ know? Secret hacking order?”

 

This time, Armin smiled. A little careful but obviously more relaxed in Eren’s proximity now. “Not really, we’re just too big for that kind of stuff. I mean… there are a few well-known students, but you’d be lucky to even remember half of the names from everyone in the same year.”

 

“Well-known students?” He conveniently ignored the rest and cocked his head.

 

“I mean, like Erwin? He’s president of the student council? He’s a senior.”

 

Ah, the _boring_ kind of well-known. He supposed it was still better than people being infamous for bullying or fooling around a little too often. Then again, that shit certainly happened in a school this big – Armin seemed a little naive after all. Probably hadn’t even caught on to what Eren was trying to learn here.

 

“Well, alright then. I should probably get going to find…” He opened the massive folder under his arm and skimmed through it until he found the desired page and gave it a quick read. “Biology? Science Room 7B?”

 

Armin just nodded happily like a proud parent and pointed in the right direction. As far as first days went, things could have been a lot worse.

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

Turned out, he was right. Things could get a lot worse.

 

Okay, he was being a little dramatic here, but _Jean Horseface Kirstein_ had a talent to get on his nerves just by occupying the same room and his incessant remarks about him started to piss Eren off. The douchebag was fifteen fucking years old, not five, so what on earth made him think it would be cool to pick on the new kid?

 

There was probably some low self-esteem shit going on, that he wanted to cover up but Eren didn’t care enough to give it further thought and by the looks of his other classmates, Jean fought a very lonely battle.

 

“Jean, you’re being obnoxious.”

 

_Ah, sweet, sweet justice._

 

Mikasa was one of the first people he had talked to and had quickly learned, that her calm gaze and her cute face hid a twenty-first century Valkyrie. She was that kind of girl you better didn’t mess with and to top it all off, Jean’s very obvious crush.

 

Sadly, Jean was a moron and Mikasa had taken to Eren like an overly affectionate granny to a lost kitten.

 

Seriously, the well of motherly protectiveness inside of her must have been as big as the friggin Pacific but Eren certainly didn’t complain. Especially not when she called horseface out on his shit with a voice that was so matter-of-factly and sharp, that you could cut steel with it.

 

Said idiot shut right up and Eren gave her a grateful smirk that she returned with the smallest smile. Subtle but very much there.

 

She was contained like that and the brunette liked it, especially since it made such a nice contrast to the loud neighing in the background.

 

He was aware, that someone on Jean’s level of stupidity would consider him a direct threat to pursuing his love interest and get even more insufferable but Eren was – hands down – also a teenager. One who took great delight in watching the asshole fume, while he leaned in closer to the girl next to him and whispered nonsense into her ear.

 

She knew _exactly_ what he was doing but kept playing along and that alone made her an awesome person in his book.

 

“Want to join me for lunch?”, was all she replied with, loud enough for Jean to hear. Going by the expression on his face, Eren began to wonder if he could get arrested for causing the dumbass to have a stroke in the middle of the classroom.

 

“Sounds good.” Tearing his gaze away from the equine waste of space was hard, but he managed and grinned at her when he spotted the mirth in her eyes. She was a sly one, alright.

 

Eren liked her more and more by the minute.

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

Lunch brought more introductions and the familiar view of blond hair and blue eyes, though Eren knew only one of those walking Scandinavian stereotypes by name.

 

Armin – he learned in the very moment they sat down – had been a friend of Mikasa since their toddler days and the brunette wasn’t even surprised. Decent people found each other and all that.

 

The equally blond girl next to Armin went by the name Krista and another boy – Marco – sat opposite of her. Eren dubbed them Goddess and freckled Jesus, because honestly, he could almost _see_ the imaginary halos on top of their heads.

 

Where they a thing? For sure. Even the universe couldn’t play a joke as cruel as throwing two perfect beings at each other only for them to _not_ be a thing. Aside from that, he was pretty convinced that the average human wouldn’t be able to handle all that bliss they radiated for extended periods of time. You had to be just as pure and untainted as Krista, if you ever wanted to lay a hand on her or risk burning to ashes on the spot and face the wrath of a thousand dead souls in the afterlife.

 

Perfect logic. Perfect match.

 

If only his little taste of Eden could’ve lasted a little longer, but with Mikasa next to him, he had expected the horse to come galloping again sooner or later.

 

“What’s _he_ doing here?!”

 

Eren wondered briefly if it would calm Jean down if someone rubbed his muzzle – that stuff usually worked with hoofed companions, right? – before he felt Marco’s eyes on him.

 

The freckled boy didn’t speak up but the tiny frown he sported wasn’t lost on Eren and he couldn’t stop the giggle, bubbling from his throat.

 

Figured, that this saint in disguise would be friends with the idiot. Marco probably also fed stray dogs, rescued baby birds and nursed abandoned kittens back to health. Jean would fit right into his tragic zoo.

 

Obviously, that wasn’t it though. No, the kid was so fucking divine, that he did not only put up with Jean’s presence, but also sided with him right away without even knowing what the hell was going on. The perfect picture of a true friend and he _still_ gave Eren the benefit of the doubt at the same time instead of jumping right into an argument.

 

 _Is this the real life?_ _Is this just fantasy?_

 

“Jean is being an idiot again.”

 

The Valkyrie had spoken, and Marco’s shoulders relaxed a little. Eren hadn’t realized that he had tensed up but apparently, this kind of stuff happened on a regular basis and freckled Jesus didn’t question Mikasa’s words for a second but dismissed the case immediately.

 

Didn’t stop Jean from complaining and taking a seat though and the brunette didn’t try to fight the roll of his eyes – even if the people watching him were obviously friends with the horse to some extend – and felt a tinge of satisfaction when the group – yes, even Marco – flashed him little smiles in return.

 

Friendship was strange that way, because it was pretty obvious that Jean was loudmouthed and obnoxious in general, not just around Eren. Nevertheless, the group endured his bullshitting and he guessed that the idiot probably had his moments too, was a decent person below the thick layers of stupidity and all that.

 

It was when Eren thought, that all in all this really wasn’t so bad of a first day, that he immediately groaned internally and chided himself.

 

He had thought the same thing merely an hour ago and what had it gotten him?

 

And as if the universe was trying to prove his theory about jinxing himself right, things turned a lot weirder in a matter of minutes.

 

Okay, yeah, some skepticism is understandable at this point. If someone had asked Eren the day before what could possibly be weirder than seeing a member of the _Equus Ferus Caballus_ family in a school cafeteria – Horse, fellas. It means horse. Still talking about Jean here. – he would have had a hard time to come up with something.

 

Five minutes after doucheface joining their table though, he got a first-row seat to ‘Stranger Things – Highschool Edition’.

 

Nah, that wasn’t quite right. There weren’t any alternate dimensions opening up, just some dude walking to their table and Eren only became aware of it, when he was face deep in his sandwich, nose buried in the bread, because a voice suddenly started talking next to them.

 

“Yo.”

 

“Hey.”

 

It was Mikasa answering and Eren looked up, cheeks stuffed like a hamster, while she turned to the guy who, surprisingly, looked exactly like her.

 

Well, not _exactly_. He was a man and all, but his black hair, grey eyes and pale skin were strikingly familiar.

 

Mikasa was a bit more on the Asian side, while the dude’s eyes seemed a little slitted for no obvious reason but Eren could have sworn that their noses were identical copies of each other.

 

“Can you get home alone? Gonna need the car.”

 

Nice voice, he had to give him that. In fact, very nice and strangely crystal-clear in the middle of a canteen that fed 5000 people every day and was full to the brim. He really didn’t speak that loudly.

 

“I can drop you off, but I’d rather leave right away.”

 

Man, the guy was basically murmuring at this point. Was it silent in here or what? Had they missed the bell?

 

“Uh…”

 

Mikasa looked around the table and Eren chanced a glance through the cafeteria to figure out where all the people had gone so suddenly.

 

Just that they were still _there_. And _staring_.

 

“My grandpa is going to pick me up. You can come with us.”, supplied Armin with a smile, while Eren scanned the crowd and spotted an overwhelming amount of girls in all forms and sizes whispering to each other behind raised hands.

 

“Really? Thanks Armin.”

 

Even some of the boys around them seemed to cast quick looks at Mikasa’s acquaintance and… Wait, was that girl fanning herself, while she giggled to a nearby friend?

 

“Cool, thanks. Tell mom I’ll be home for dinner, yeah?”

 

Yepp, there was definitely some swooning going on here, from dreamy looks to lusty stares and Eren didn’t think much about it, before he muttered a low “What the fuck?”

 

It was, unsurprisingly, met by confused looks from his newly made friends and the brunette was quick to elaborate, voice hushed and right hand gesturing around.

 

“Do you see this shit? Are we in some fucking high school musical? Cause I’m telling you,” Speaking faster and faster, his voice almost turned into a hiss pretty quickly. “I’m not singing. And I ain’t gonna dance on a fucking table and break my leg. I’m not gonna dance _at_ _all_. My motor skills are challenged at best, guys! Oh my god, please don’t make me dance! I swear to god, I’m going to get up and leave the school and the fucking country while I’m at it! I won’t– “

 

A snort broke through his rant and only now did Eren realize, that _Mr. Cooler-than-thou_ was still standing next to them, because the sound quickly turned into full blown laughter – queue enamored sighs and gasps from the surrounding tables here.

 

“Levi is just… a little popular.”, tried Armin.

 

“ _Little popular_ my ass.”, complemented Jean and for once, Eren was inclined to agree with him.

 

It was then, that Levi looked at him with a relaxed smirk on his lips that, in all honesty, fit him pretty damn well. “And you are?”

 

“Uh… Eren.

 

The young mad nodded and the brunette grinned back at him – dancing phobia momentarily forgotten.

 

“New here?”

 

“Yeah, first day.”

 

“Well…”, the black-haired man turned slightly to cast a quick look over his shoulder when a new wave of rushed whispers rang through the air, before he rubbed his neck. “Sorry about that. Hope you’ll have a good time here.”

 

Eren grinned back, almost a little pitiful, because this was fucking _insane_ , not to say creepy as hell. “Probably an easier one than you, that’s for sure.”

 

His table chuckled in unison and this time, it was Levi’s turn to smile at him, although it wasn’t as wide and open as Eren’s, but more contained like Mikasa’s.

 

He turned to who Eren now believed was his sister and ruffled her black hair, before he gave the table a quick wave and, following the words “See you later guys.”, strut away.

 

From there it was only milliseconds before the booming noise of the cafeteria returned full force. Probably even louder than before, now that masses of hormonal teenage girls chatted excitedly about the high school celebrity who had just left the scene.

 

No longer being the center of attention, the table returned to the previous conversation and Eren had to clear his throat loudly to gain their focus, when they babbled about assignments and teachers and a lot of other stuff that really wasn’t as interesting as what had just happened.

 

“So, Armin…”

 

“Hm?”

 

The blond boy looked up from his notes and smiled at him, oblivious as ever.

 

“I think you need to tweak your introduction tour a little.” Eren grinned at the tiny frown forming between Armin’s thick brows. “Especially the _well-known people_ part."

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably not going to update this daily, but I'm a few chapters ahead, so we all might as well indulge ☺

 

 

Eren wasn’t too deeply invested in Levi himself, but the spectacle in the cafeteria – the behavior of people who were most likely complete strangers to the man – was beyond interesting. The brunette had never imagined witnessing a scene that could come straight out of a shitty teenage romance movie, yet here he was, attending Trost High and whenever he spotted the older boy in the corridors or the canteen, he was enveloped by awed silence.

 

It was weirdly fascinating and even when three days of school had passed, he was still trying to make heads and tails of it.

 

From what he had seen, the young man was a nice fella, but so far, he hadn’t quite discovered why Levi was so _extremely_ popular.

 

“Well, he’s pretty cute.”

 

“You think?”

 

Krista nodded, before she raised the spoon she had used for her yogurt to her lips and licked it clean. “Yeah, he’s extremely good looking.”

 

Eren wasn’t so sure about that. Levi appeared pretty normal to him, maybe a little intriguing, but who was he to question the opinion of an expert. Krista was a girl and all, she probably knew better.

 

“But you didn’t start staring and drooling when he talked to us.”

 

The girl giggled and Armin and Marco chimed in. They were back at their usual table in the cafeteria, munching their lunch and Eren had started yet another attempt to get some information about the upperclassman.

 

“We’ve been friends with Mikasa for a while.”, she answered eventually and disposed of the empty yogurt cup. “We all know him a little, he’s only human, you know?”

 

Eren hummed in understanding and bit into his sandwich again.

 

“Shtill– “ The muffled word earned him a raised eyebrow or two and he swallowed hastily. “Still, there must be other reasons. So he’s good looking. What else?”

 

“Well…” Armin tapped his pen against the tabletop, the assignment for next week currently forgotten. “He’s smart? I think he’s one of the top students in his year.”

 

Alright, being an idiot was probably not as attractive as having a good head on your shoulders – Jean was living, walking proof for that – but Eren didn’t believe that good grades were enough to turn a guy into a teenage rock star.

 

“He’s actually pretty nice.” His head turned to Marco and the boy graced him with one of his divine smiles.

 

“Nice?”

 

“Yeah. He’s helping others a lot. He’s not part of any club but he joins them from time to time, just to indulge them and help out. He tutors other students in his year too, for free.”

 

“Ah.” Nah. Nuh uh. That _definitely_ couldn’t be it. If Eren knew _one_ thing, then it was that being nice got you nowhere with a girl. Nice guys ended up being friendzoned. “I don’t know… there must be something else.”

 

“Maybe it’s the combination?”

 

“Combination?” He turned his questioning gaze back to Marco and received a calm nod.

 

“He’s nice, smart and he looks good. It’s a good mix?”

 

Eren gestured in the blond boy’s direction, already shaking his head. “Armin looks cute, he’s smarter than the teachers and sweet as icing. I don’t see girls fainting in his wake.”

 

A choked cough sounded over the table and Krista did her best to pat the poor boy’s back, while his face heated up rapidly, but Eren was already moving on with his investigation. “There’s gotta be something else… Oh!”

 

Head turning to Mikasa, he prodded her arm with a finger and the way she reluctantly raised her eyes should have set off a few alarms in his head, but Eren was Eren. Single-minded focus was his strong suit. Being tactful? Not so much.

 

“Is he bringing a lot of girls home? Maybe he’s super good in bed!”

 

The girl groaned, swatting his hand away. “Eren you’re talking about my _brother_. Stop making this weird!”

 

“But– “

 

“I’m starting to regret inviting you to our lunch group.”

 

It was only annoyed muttering, but equine ears on the other end of the table picked it up immediately and Jean visibly perked up in his seat.

 

_You wish, moron._

 

“Okay, yeah, sorry.”, he rubbed his neck sheepishly for good measure and shrugged. “That was stupid. It’s just… I’m curious. He must have some really damn amazing qualities to be so popular, right?”

 

Mikasa’s eyes softened ever so slightly and the tiniest fond smile played around her lips upon hearing the compliment, before it turned into a mischievous grin and she shook her head in amusement.

 

“He’s a great brother, honestly. But he isn’t all that perfect.”

 

“No?”

 

Jean sank back into his seat when he realized that Mikasa had been successfully placated and it took immense willpower from Eren not to shoot him a cocky grin but keep his eyes intently on the girl instead.

 

His little victory was enough though and he refrained from leaning further into her space. No need to cause real heartbreak by stealing a princess he didn’t want. She was nice and all and he really liked her but Mikasa was just too damn scary sometimes.

 

“You know what OCD means?”

 

He nodded and the girl shrugged. “That. It got better over the last years, he did some therapy and stopped locking the door seven times whenever he left the house or switching the light on and off fifteen times in a row, but he still has a thing with symmetry and cleaning.”

 

Eyes going wide, his mouth opened and closed a few times. Upon seeing his shocked expression, Mikasa fixed him with a curious stare and Eren shook his head quickly. “Should you really… uhm… just tell me that?”

 

“Everybody knows about it.”, supplied Armin and the brunette couldn’t quite hide the surprised look on his face.

 

“Yeah.”, nodded Marco. “He never hid it. You can ask him about it and he’ll gladly explain it to you. He told me once, that he wants people to be more aware of mental disorders and show that it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

 

“Wow.”

 

Right back to being an awesome guy then.

 

Mikasa rolled her eyes next to him, before she playfully hit his shoulder. “Careful, or Eren might have to get in line with the drooling girls.”

 

“Har har.”

 

“Seriously, he’s just a normal guy. Got a potty mouth too.”

 

“Really?”

 

She lowered her lids, looking at him with hooded eyes, just the way Levi did and deepened her voice in a mock-impersonation of her brother. “ _Hey shit stain, I swear to fuck if you don’t clean up your crap, I’ll ram it up where the sun ain’t shining and ship you to the north pole when it makes you waddle like a penguin. Gonna use that damn space you’re wasting for something fucking productive._ ”

 

A snort broke from his lips and he was quick to stifle the sound with his hand, before it could turn into a full-blown laugh. “No way!”

 

“He does swear like a sailor sometimes…”, contemplated Armin and Krista and Marco hummed in agreement.

 

“Why are you so invested in him anyways? You barely talked to him.”, questioned Mikasa then and Eren shook his head immediately.

 

“It’s not really him I’m so curious about, it’s how everybody else reacts around him.”

 

“You so desperate for some ass that you wanna study the master?”, sneered Jean from the other side and Eren rolled his eyes. The idiot had been silent almost all throughout lunch, only to open his trap when he saw an opening to piss the brunette off.

 

_Real mature, pony boy._

 

Hence, he didn’t even acknowledge the ridiculous comment and kept his attention focused on Mikasa.

 

“I mean I kind of get it with boybands and stuff like that.” She raised a brow at that and Eren waved his hands dismissively. “No, I’m not into that shit but they make music, right? If you’re being generous, you could at least say they create some kind of art? Levi just _exists_ and people are falling all over themselves when he’s near.”

 

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I want to get it. It’s like a social experiment.”

 

“ _Experiment?_ ”

 

Eren released an – admittedly – unmanly shriek and jumped in his seat, before his head snapped to the right, finding the source of the startling voice.

 

There, directly next to him, was a girl crouching on the ground and grinning excitedly with her brown eyes sparkling behind thick glasses.

 

“What the– “

 

“Stop sneaking up on us, Hange.” Mikasa flicked her forehead, but it didn’t diminish the broad smile on the stranger’s face in the slightest.

 

Instead of acknowledging the reprimand, her eyes were immediately back on Eren. “You want to do an experiment? About Levi?”

 

“What? Uh, no…? Haha…” Eren didn’t consider himself a good actor on his best days and had no doubt that he was failing just as expertly as usual to mask the truth. Honestly, next to him, B-movies looked like fucking blockbusters. “W-Why on earth would you think that…?”

 

 

“And here I thought you’re the only lunatic around who wants to experiment on me…”

 

 

 _Oh shit_.

 

Eren flinched spectacularly in his seat, ducking his head immediately.

 

He knew that voice and _here goes to being such a single-minded idiot all the time_. How had he not realized that the cafeteria was silent as a fucking library again?

 

A quick glance at the wide grins of his friends had him narrowing his eyes, before he whispered accusingly. “You traitors!”

 

Levi stood directly behind him and there was no fucking doubt that at least Armin and Krista who sat opposite of him, had seen him coming from a mile away.

 

“Aw, be nice now, Levi!”, chirped the girl – Hange – and threw an arm around Eren’s shoulder.

 

It was a little off, considering that she was crouching on the ground, but the brunette considered it wiser to focus on the sudden display of affection, than turning his head around.

 

The man of the hour though, seemed to have other plans and stepped forward to yank Hange away from him and take her place.

 

“Mom said she needs me to pick up some stuff for her on the way home. It’s gonna take an hour. Are you coming with me or leaving with Armin again?”

 

Eren didn’t need a mirror to know that he looked absolutely mortified, while he glared down at his knees.

 

“It’s fine.”, murmured Mikasa and all too soon, Levi turned to him.

 

He tried not to be lured in. He really, really tried but the longer he felt that silent stare burning into his side, the harder it got and eventually, he couldn’t resist any longer and cast a quick glance at the young man next to him.

 

Levi… grinned.

 

Eren swallowed anxiously.

 

Levi’s smile widened and a glimpse of his canine showed between his lips.

 

God, he wanted to die, die, die. On the spot. Ground swallowing him up and all, but his wish wasn’t granted, and he just pressed his eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable humiliation.

 

Jean would jump right onto the bandwagon and drag him through the mud.

 

The verbal jab didn’t come though. Instead he felt a hand ruffling his hair and a low “Don’t get your panties in a twist, brat.” reached his ears and in the time, it took Eren to process what had happened, Levi had already left the table.

 

“God…”, he murmured, blinking his eyes open as the noises of the cafeteria washed over them once more.

 

Seeing the blatant amusement on his new friends faces had him looking dumbfounded at them for a moment, before he frowned and turned his confused stare into a glare, growling his displeasure under his breath. “I hate you…”

 

Obviously, the only reaction he got, was a round of laughter.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's with that school?
> 
>   * In my defense, I am German. We don't have high schools. Consider this a haphazard fantasy mix based on some research about US schools, mixed with Japan and Germany. We've got four years in Trost High: Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior and Senior. Student Councils are a thing in some German schools, so I went with it. Is all of this technically correct? Probably not. Do we care? Uuuh...
>   * I wanted to have a big school (schools this big do in fact exist), because while the story is centered around Eren and Levi, I didn't know if I might want to write some more sub plot here and there, if the muse strikes me. We'll see but this way I have a million options. Also makes the whole thing with Levi so much more ridiculous. He's basically an idol with how many fans he has, because there are so many students.
> 



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi get to know each other a little better.

 

 

Fuck, he was lost. Why on earth had he agreed to help Armin again?

 

_Right._ Big, blue, puppy eyes and a very convincing story about him being needed in some meeting, or to file documents or save the world or whatever.

 

Eren’s eyes wandered along the high walls while he desperately tried to find his way into the right wing of the building.

 

Two weeks and he still couldn’t confidently maneuver himself through this fucking castle of a school. It was just too damn big and for once he was not only completely alone, but also in a part of the complex that he didn’t know well enough.

 

And it was all Mikasa’s fault.

 

When Marco had told him, her absence was caused by some illness, he had scoffed, because it was just so unbelievable, that a girl like her would be bound to the bed by something as mundane as the flu. Three days later, she still wasn’t back though and Eren felt inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt now.

 

Whatever. It was time to give up. He could just send her a fucking picture of the homework they had received, instead of wandering the halls for all eternity and being late to his next class.

 

He turned around, wondering if he had any realistic chance of finding the way back, when he was met with something solid and stumbled backwards, falling flat on his ass.

 

“Shit!”

 

Eren rubbed his face, before he scrambled to his knees and hastily picked up the loose papers, that had spread all around him and it took him a moment to realize, that there certainly hadn’t been a wall right behind his back in the middle of the corridor.

 

Raising his eyes, he was met with the curious gaze of another student and swallowed anxiously.

 

“Uh… sorry about that. I didn’t look, I’m really sorry.”

 

The guy was freaking tall and Eren gauged that he would still have to crane his neck to look up at him, even if he was standing instead of crouching on the floor.

 

“Are you searching for something?”, he questioned instead of replying to the brunette’s apology and Eren felt himself nodding, before he got back up with the wrinkled pages in hand.

 

“Yeah, uh… I was searching for Levi.”

 

Didn’t seem to be the right thing to say.

 

The guy – broad shouldered, long blond hair in a bun and eyes suddenly narrowing – looked him up and down, with newly crossed arms in front of his chest.

 

“Listen kid, I know you all want to catch a glimpse of him, but this isn’t a zoo.”

 

“What? No, no, no!” Eren shook his head vigorously and waved the lose pages around wildly, as he tried to convey with rapid gestures that this certainly wasn’t his intent.

 

Sadly, _Mr. Goliath_ didn’t seem to listen. “You’re in the wrong part of the building. Sophomores are in the east wing.”

 

“No! You don’t understand! I’ve got these –“

 

“It’s fine, Eld.”

 

Eren’s mouth snapped shut as he watched Levi stepping around the tall teenager and giving him a quick pat on the back in the process.

 

“You were searching for me?”

 

“Uh. Hi. Yeah.” He stretched his arm forward, pathetically wrinkled papers in his sweaty grip and Levi cocked his head. “I got Mikasa’s homework. Uh, Armin had no time. Some meeting or something? A-And I got lost here and…”

 

His voice tapered off and he allowed himself to take a deep, calming breath.

 

“You still got classes?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Now. You still got classes?”

 

Eren wasn’t quite sure what that had to do with Mikasa’s homework but nodded nevertheless and Levi eyed the pages for a moment, before his gaze was back on the brunette.

 

“Want to give them to her yourself? I think she’d be happy about a visitor.”

 

“Uh, yeah, sure. But where…”

 

The black-haired man glanced briefly at his watch. “I’m leaving in two hours. You can come with me.”

 

Eren finally remembered to lower his arm and retract the papers from Levi’s personal space. Considering that the stuff had been on the ground and was clammy from his iron grip, he wasn’t even surprised that the senior didn’t want to touch them. That didn’t mean that he thought Levi wasn’t genuine. Mikasa was probably bored out of her mind by now.

 

“Okay, yeah.”

 

He received an approving look, before Levi passed him by to head to his next class, Eld strutting along at his side. “Good, see you in two hours. Front entrance.”

 

It only dawned on him that he really should have asked for some fucking directions, when the upperclassman was long gone and Eren’s viciously beating heart had finally calmed down.

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

Against all odds, Eren had managed to finish his epic quest of finding the way back to the right room and stood in front of the building soon after classes were finished for the day, searching for a well-known black-haired teenager, who brought the silence of the lambs with him wherever he went.

 

Spotting Levi was easy – not because he was surrounded by a mob of people who wanted an autograph, but because Eren had let his eyes wander over the masses of leaving students and caught sight of a group with not one, not two or three, but _four_ giants standing in the parking lot.

 

The guy from earlier was one of them and Levi was right by his side, thin leather jacket on his shoulders, and chatting with another teenager.

 

“Uh… hi?”

 

He had weaseled his way through the people quickly enough and now, as he joined the illustrious group, all eyes were on him in a split second.

 

“Yo.”

 

As soon as Levi had acknowledged him, the strangely scrutinizing stares stopped and Eren wasn’t quite sure if these people were just looking out for the famous senior or if Levi was secretly the boss of some high school mafia gang.

 

“Erwin, Mike, Gunter, Eld, …” He rattled names of like a machine gun and didn’t even point at the respective person while he did so. “You already know Hange… Guys, this is Eren.”

 

Man, he sounded kind of bored. Seemed like introductions were a chore for him.

 

“Hi…?”

 

He attempted a small wave but a heavy hand coming down on his shoulder had him freezing up and it took immense willpower to get his head moving and turn to look up and up and _up_ …

 

Eld was next to him, grinning down at the brunette and giving him a squeeze with his right hand. “Sorry for earlier, man.”

 

“Oh, yeah, no problem.”

 

Apparently, they were waiting for someone. At least that was Eren’s conclusion when none of them made a move to leave and they returned to their previous conversation.

 

_Something, something, Pixies. Something, Something, Biology. Something, something, Prom._

 

Yeah, he wasn’t really listening.

 

When _Stranger No. 3_ – Gunter? – was about to throw his cigarette stub to the ground and stomp it out with his heel, he spotted a girl from the corner of his eye, running in their direction.

 

And god damn was she pretty.

 

Red hair, cute face, round in all the right spots.

 

She threw her arms around Levi’s neck from behind, as soon as she reached them, almost making the student topple over and grinned at the rest of the group, before her eyes stopped on Eren.

 

“That’s Eren.” Levi pointed at the petite redhead hanging on his neck. “That’s the girl.”

 

“The girl?”, they replied in unison, though Eren’s voice was more of an ugly car accident, while _the girl’s_ sounded like the pleasant pitter-patter of rain on a summer day.

 

What the hell did that even mean? _The_ girl as in _his_ girl? God, that lucky motherfucker. Eren wasn’t so sure if he liked Levi anymore.

 

“Petra.”, she smiled and turned her head to Levi, as she let go of his neck. “Sorry for that. Had to copy some stuff for Mrs. Brzenska.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s stop wasting time.” He turned around and before Petra could react, he had picked her up from the ground, her belly resting on his shoulder and her thighs in the firm grasp of his right hand in front of his chest as he started walking away without so much as a good bye.

 

Eren threw a questioning look at the group, while Petra squealed and playfully hit Levi’s back with her small fists, but he only received a few lopsided grins.

 

Deciding not to waste more time, he gave them a quick wave and ran after the noisy couple before Levi decided to drive off without him, just in time to make it into the back of the car.

 

A new thing for the ‘ _not so awesome_ ’ list – the senior appeared more impatient than a toddler on Christmas morning.

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

“Well, come in.”

 

Eren followed Levi through the door of his family home and threw a look into the tidy living room from where he stood in the entrance.

 

They had dropped Petra off somewhere on the way – apparently, Levi was her ride on most days – and the brunette had spent the rest of the drive in the passenger seat, after the senior had told him to _move his scrawny ass_ , because he was _not his damn chauffeur_.

 

_Lovely, the soul of a true poet_.

 

He took his shoes off and shuffled into the open area, taking a seat on the counter that divided the kitchen from the rest of the living room, while Levi hung his jacket and threw his keys into a bowl.

 

“I will check on her.”

 

And with that, he was alone.

 

The brunette leaned back on his stool and craned his neck carefully to get a better view of the room, turning his head this way and that to take the impressions in.

 

It was homey, orderly and well taken care of.

 

Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t spot a single spec of dust on the multitude of picture frames strewn all over the surfaces of the living room. The creamy couch and the wooden floor looked pristine, the books in their shelfs arranged by size and color.

 

It seemed like Levi’s family went along with his condition and let him reign over the shared spaces in the house.

 

If Eren would try to rearrange so much as a single drawer at home, his mother would kill him.

 

The sound of soft steps on the staircase drew him from his musings and he turned around, watching Levi as he descended from the second floor, hand running through his inky locks.

 

“She’s sleeping. You want me to wake her or do you have time?”

 

Head shaking, hands rising, he grinned. “Nah, it’s fine. I can do the homework and give her a head start when she wakes up.”

 

“Want company?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Levi nodded and rounded the counter in a slow trudge, while Eren began to pull folders, books and pencils from his bag and immersed himself in his assignments.

 

That neither the soft clinking noises from the kitchen, nor the presence of the young man managed to distract him, was surprising – after all, Levi was the sole target of Eren’s investigations to gain understanding about the social structures at Trost High – but for some reason, the space surrounding him and the presence of the upperclassman were strangely calming.

 

Which was probably, why he startled when a cup was sat down right in front of his nose after a while.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Hot chocolate.” Levi took a seat next to him, his cup already placed on the counter – looked like tea – and began to pull his own paperwork from his messenger bag.

 

Damn that was so… _nice_.

 

“Wow… Thanks, man.”

 

“No problem.” He opened one of his folders and grinned. “Didn’t expect you to be so docile. No questions today?”

 

Eren swallowed slowly, carefully shaking his head. To be fair, he never had any questions _for_ Levi, just _about_ him, but maybe the senior had expected him to start the Spanish inquisition in his living room.

 

“Must be annoying…”, he mumbled eventually, and Levi looked up, propping his elbow on the counter to rest his chin in his palm, fingers curled in front of his lips.

 

“You think?”

 

“Well, yeah... I guess it’s fun for a few days or weeks but all the time? Kind of insane. And creepy. Insanely creepy.”

 

The older boy chuckled, nodding along and he abandoned his pen on the tabletop.

 

“When did it start?”

 

“Mhm… In my second year I think.”

 

_God_. Three years of being stared at like a circus attraction. Suddenly Eren wished Levi all the best with Petra – marriage, cute babies, happily ever after and all that shit – the poor guy certainly deserved it.

 

“How about you?”

 

“Me?” Eren shot him an incredulous look. He wasn’t ugly or disliked – Jean didn’t count – but it really was no secret that he was a far cry from Levi’s level of popularity. “What about me?”

 

The black-haired teen nodded in the direction of the staircase to the second floor where, apparently, Mikasa’s room was located. “You like her?”

 

His eyes went very, _very_ wide, before he snorted out loud. “ _What_?! God, no! Jesus!”

 

Okay, that wasn’t the most _sensible_ answer, which he realized as soon as Levi’s expression morphed into something a little more intimidating.

 

Good job, idiot. You’re talking about his _sister_.

 

“Shit, no. That’s not what I meant.” Levi still looked unimpressed, but at least a little less scary. “She’s really nice, I like her a lot, but I know her for… two weeks? A-And honestly, I think I’m more of a lost puppy to her, than a love interest.”

 

“Whatever.” Eren’s shoulders sagged in relief when Levi relented, but he had gotten his hopes up too soon, since the older student added “But if you’re gonna tap that, use a fucking condom.”

 

“What?! No! I’m not going to– “

 

“Don’t give me that shit. I’m a guy, I’ve been your age. Wasn’t that long ago. You jerk it like… what? Five times a day?”

 

“Oh my god…” Eren groaned, hiding his mortified face behind his hands, and shook his head. “Dude, I’m not going to ‘ _tap that’_. You really need to stop talking about your sister like that.”

 

Levi gave him a wide smirk at that, and it dawned on the brunette, that the other was probably teasing him on purpose.

 

_That fucker!_

 

Being the _real mature guy_ , he was, it came only natural to add as an afterthought “You don’t need to worry though. She can get enough tail if she wants to.”

 

_Would you look at that_ – Now he had Levi’s attention.

 

“What?”

 

_Don’t do it, don’t be that guy, Eren._

 

“Yeah. Like Jean?”

 

Okay, he was that guy, but it seemed the mere idea was just as hard to believe for Levi, as it was for him. “The horse?”

 

It was totally deadpan, and the brunette pressed his lips together desperately for a few seconds, trying to keep it in.

 

To no avail.

 

The laughter burst from his lips like a tidal wave and he felt his eyes watering within seconds, sides aching from the heavy heaving of his chest. “Y-You see it t-to?!”

 

Levi looked a little concerned when Eren’s arms closed around his stomach while he kept shaking with laughter, but he didn’t miss a beat when it came to his question.

 

“Lots of neighing, long face. Doesn’t need a genius to draw the obvious conclusion.”

 

Okay, _now_ the brunette had started to cough weakly from his outburst between his giggles and Levi reached over, patting him on the back. “Jesus, brat…”

 

“S-Sorry.”

 

Eren quickly learned, that while drinking something usually helped with a clogged throat, hot chocolate wasn’t the best choice for it.

 

Keyword being _hot_. The stuff was still scalding, and the brunette barely succeeded in swallowing the liquid lava instead of spitting it all over the counter, before he cleared his throat almost violently.

 

Clogged _and_ burned now.

 

At least it tasted nice.

 

Meanwhile, Levi looked at him like a disapproving parent and shook his head, before he returned to his assignment.

 

_Right_ , homework. He had wanted to get most of this stuff done before Mikasa raised from her slumber.

 

They studied for an hour or two – Eren wasn’t sure – between casual conversations and light banter and the sun was already setting, when low shuffling noises from the second floor announced that the sleeping beauty had awaken.

 

Mikasa looked like a damn zombie as she walked down the stairs and she only made it as far as the counter, before she dropped her chin on her brother’s head and leaned her full weight on him.

 

“Oi, you’re heavy as fuck!”

 

“Tired…”

 

Eren grinned as he watched the siblings and while Levi complained loudly, he didn’t make a move to shove his sister away, but rather offered her even more space to hold on to.

 

“Hi Eren…”

 

“Hey…”

 

He kept his voice low, not missing how she had winced when Levi had scolded her and by the looks of her, it wasn’t farfetched to assume, that she had a killer headache.

 

“I got your homework and…”, he opened his bag and pulled out another folder. “… I copied Armin’s notes. Mine are probably shit, so I didn’t even go there.”

 

The girl smiled and he placed the folder on the table, before he pointed at the papers in front of him. “I’m done with most of the stuff too, if you want to have a look? Or I can send you a picture?”

 

“Thanks, Eren.”

 

Well, that wasn’t really answering his question, but he cut her some slack. She didn’t look as if she would be able to read over his work and actually comprehend it at the moment.

 

“The only thing, uh…”, he turned a few pages and shrugged. “The only thing I haven’t finished is math. You might have to ask Armin for that one, I-I…” Eren shrugged a little helplessly once more and sighed. “I don’t get it to be honest.”

 

“Need help?”

 

His eyes darted from zombie girl to her brother and Levi already plucked the page from the pile to give it a quick read. “Ah, yeah… It’s actually not that hard but you’ll need it a lot in the next years. Better if you really understand it.”

 

“You, uh… Really?”

 

“Yeah, no biggie. I can explain it to you tomorrow. At lunch?”

 

Eren beamed at the older teen and nodded quickly, barely stopping himself from drawing him into a grateful hug. “Wow, thanks, man!”

 

“No problem. Don’t play too long kids.”

 

He slipped from his chair and maneuvered a pliant Mikasa onto the stool, before he picked up his own work and placed it neatly into his bag.

 

When Levi ascended the stairs to go to his room and leave him alone with his classmate, Eren was still grinning, happy as a dog that had just gotten a treat.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

Eren didn’t peg himself a genius by any means, but Levi just made it so _easy_ that he felt smarter by the minute.

 

The first time they met in the cafeteria on the next day, he had seen the older teen waving at him from an empty table and while walking to his seat had made him feel like a spec of dirt under the microscope – seriously, there where a million people watching! – the lunch itself had been awesome. That the young man was continuously surrounded by awed silence had been pretty helpful with actually focusing on the material too.

 

So, when Levi had asked how he was doing with his other subjects and offered to help with physics, Eren had said yes and stuck around.

 

Usually they were alone, sometimes he joined the dark-haired senior on the table with his other friends – by now he knew which name belonged to whom – and once Armin had sat with them for a moment.

 

It hadn’t lasted long though, because the blond bowl head had realized, that Levi wasn’t trying to infuse Eren’s brain with advanced knowledge from his own classes but tried to help him with the stuff that Armin already mastered in his sleep.

 

Lunch with Levi meant a solid hour of studying every single day, a dedication to education Eren had never had in his life before and besides getting better and better with every passing day, he genuinely had _fun_.

 

Levi was a cool guy and it only highlighted, how fucking stupid this whole scenario was. People worshipped the ground he was walking on but didn’t dare to utter a single word to him.

 

_Their loss._

 

Meanwhile, Eren enjoyed grade-A private lessons and joked around with a guy he had genuinely come to like.

 

That Levi was blunt and open as hell was sometimes a little shocking, sometimes unsettling, sometimes hilarious and sometimes all of the above.

 

He didn’t talk down on people or treated Eren like a kid, even though he continued to call him a brat and the brunette understood pretty quickly, that Levi seemed to work with two simple categories.

 

He liked you, or he didn’t.

 

Considering that he had his own bit of baggage, it wasn’t surprising that Levi wasn’t very judgmental, but Eren appreciated it all the same, that the older teen never made him feel stupid when he didn’t understand something, nor laughed at him, when his junior shared something he had on his mind.

 

Levi was awesome. Best friend for life material right there and with everything happening so naturally, Eren wasn’t all that surprised when the other poked him with the tip of his pen after two weeks of sharing lunch together, while they packed up their papers.

 

“You want to come to the movies with us?”

 

“Tonight?”

 

“Yeah. The guys, Petra, me… Mikasa is coming too. Movie is probably going to be shit though. It’s Hange’s turn to choose.”

 

Eren grinned at him and nodded, before he pulled out his wallet and gave it a quick check.

 

“Yeah, should be alright.”

 

“You’re low on cash?”

 

The brunette shrugged, putting his wallet away. “My parents aren’t big on pocket money and I’ve only been here a month. Haven’t found a job yet. But I’m good, don’t worry about it. It’s not like they give me nothing at all. You got a job?”

 

“Nah.” Levi was already done putting his belongings away. He was definitely neater than Eren and while the teen tried his best not to make a mess on the table while they studied, his bag was a whole different topic.

 

You thought a woman’s purse was like a black hole? Eren could probably start pulling out books and folders, a month’s supply of water, a vacuum cleaner, a private yacht, you name it.

 

He had, in all honesty, no idea what exactly was hidden in the depths of his backpack but for Levi’s sake, he applied a different strategy on the table when they sat together.

 

When he was done with a pen or marker, he put it back into his pencil case instead of spreading more and more of them around his folder. Books were stacked in a neat pile, biggest to smallest and whenever he saw Levi trying his best not to glare at Eren’s papers in front of him, he made sure to realign them symmetrical to the table’s edge.

 

And he knew, Levi was grateful.

 

He might not say it, but Eren saw it in the way the creases on his forehead smoothed out or his eyes softened, or a tiny smile played around his lips.

 

“Our parents think there’s too much pressure on kids these days. School, homework, after-school activities, work…” Levi rattled it off like a well ingrained speech he had heard a million times. “They want us to focus on school. Studying is our job and all that.”

 

The senior shrugged then, slinging the strap of his messenger bag around his shoulder. “We’re getting good cash from them and we bring decent grades.”

 

“Sounds nice…”

 

He closed his backpack and picked it up, about to say good bye, before Levi interrupted their parting.

 

“I’ll pick you up at seven then?”

 

“Right! The movie! Yeah, thanks!”

 

The senior grinned and ruffled his hair, a gesture that had become quite regular between the two, before he turned and walked away to leave Eren in a storm of swelling noises.

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

The movie had indeed been shit.

 

If Eren would bother to think about it hard enough, he would’ve probably been able to identify some artsy avantgarde angle in the fuck fest they had just witnessed, but usually, movies were meant to be relaxing and fun for him. Not make his brain hurt.

 

Frankly, he mourned the loss of his money but knowing that he wasn’t the only one in the group of teenagers who felt that way, soothed his pain a little.

 

That, and the fact that they were currently sitting in a diner and Levi had promised to pay his bill.

 

Something about being unable to let Eren spend more with clear conscience, considering that he had lost a few bills to wasting his time with _this train wreck of a cinematography project for the mentally challenged_.

 

Yepp, if Levi ever used his tongue to woo women, it certainly wasn’t by speaking. That much, he knew by now.

 

“You didn’t like it?!”

 

That Hange seemed seriously upset by this piece of information just served to show how much was going wrong in her head and the group answered with a unanimous groan.

 

But they had stuck with her through two hours of excruciating insanity that had probably killed a good portion of their brain cells, instead of boycotting her and leaving the theater. That in itself seemed like a pretty big deal to Eren.

 

Yeah, you stayed with your friends through the good and the bad. And in this case? You also stayed through the bullshit.

 

Maybe they simply were really decent people or maybe it was the big city life that made them so much more accepting. Eren hadn’t really hung out with the cool kids in his last school to make a comparison, but he knew for sure that the upperclassmen there hadn’t mingled with the ‘babies’ and an evening spent like this wouldn’t have gone by in silent suffering but with the disposal of a friend.

 

“I honestly don’t get what on earth she found entertaining about this movie…”

 

Levi’s lips twitched into a small smile, while Eren whined next to him. The older teen sat at the head of the table, facing the room in front of him, with Mikasa on one side and the brunette on the other. Even here, in the small diner close to the cinema, he seemed to by shielded by his friends, as if they expected students from their school to drop by and wanted Levi to be as far away as possible from the aisle between the booths.

 

“That’s just the way she is… She could watch Avengers and spin a whole theory about misogyny in today’s society, the underrepresentation of minorities and the philosophic meaning of morals and black and white decisions in a gray scale world.”

 

“The… what?” Eren looked a little lost, forehead creasing while he worked his way through the thesis, before Hange hollered from the other end of the table.

 

“Are you talking about Avengers?!”

 

“Nope.”

 

The brunette giggled and Levi winked at him, when Hange turned away with a pout. It wasn’t that he wanted the senior to shut her down, but he didn’t feel like piling an hour of pseudo-psychological dispute on top of the mindfuck of a movie they had suffered through. Hence, he was kind of grateful that Levi seemed to share the sentiment and had nipped Hange’s attempt to open another clusterfuck of a movie discussion in the bud.

 

It was a little mean, but he had only so much gray matter to give, before the death of his braincells would start to cause problems.

 

“What do you usually watch?”

 

The older teen shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t know. I’m not much of a TV guy. Whatever Netflix throws at me? Don’t have the time anyways.”

 

Eren hummed, before his gaze was drawn to Mikasa who had, apparently, decided to join the living again and raised her head from the tabletop with a chuckle. “Don’t believe a word he just said. He’s an anime nerd. Binge watching complete seasons during the weekend and all that.”

 

“Are you still writing in that pink glitter diary?”, countered her brother in a bored voice and Eren tried to cover his sudden snorting with an unconvincing cough.

 

“Midget.”

 

“Teetles.”

 

“Clean freak.”

 

“Swamp donkey.”

 

“Okay, okay, woah, calm down.” Eren raised his hands in a placating manner and two sets of deep, gray eyes focused on him for a tense second, before the pair answered with a huffed laugh and grinned at each other.

 

Seemed to be a regular thing between siblings. Thank god he was an only child.

 

“So, you’re embarrassed about being an anime fan?” He shoved the cold remains of his fries away and reached for his Cola. To absolutely nobodies surprise, Levi hadn’t touched any of the foods or drinks in the diner and Eren couldn’t quite decide if he should feel sorry for the older teen or not. Must suck to constantly consider how filthy things were. Then again, Levi didn’t seem to have issues when it came to touching people. At least a select few. Sometimes.

 

He ruffled Eren’s hair a lot. He endured Mikasa and Petra treating him like a beanbag and patted his friends on the shoulder from time to time. Maybe he had achieved that with therapy? Or he considered humans less dirty than inanimate objects?

 

 _Hell no_. People were fucking filthy.

 

Being a teenager, Eren had his fair share of mornings where he was too lazy to care for a shower, but at least he washed himself regularly. He could name quite few guys in his class who didn’t seem the use bathrooms for anything but taking a shit.

 

_Oh well, a topic for another day._

 

“Not really.”

 

He looked up from behind the rim of his glass and saw Levi shrugging, before the senior continued.

 

“I’m just tired of hearing the same shit every time I talk about it.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Like…”, Levi’s voice rose in pitch, probably trying to mimic one of the few teenage girls who had dared to approach him in the past. “Oh. My. Gooosh!! I _LOVE_ anime!! I watched Sailor Moon _ALL_ the time when I was younger!!”

 

_Abort, abort! Wrong pipe! I repeat! Wrong pipe!!_

 

Eren barely managed to spit the remains of Coke in his mouth back into the glass, instead of spraying the whole booth with sweet soda. Certainly didn’t get a seal of approval from Levi, judging by the look on his face.

 

He slammed the glass on the table, hitting his sternum a few times, while he coughed roughly and Eld’s hand – the giant sat on his other side – came down on his back unprompted.

 

“Ha – Yeah – Okay – I’m okay – Ouch!”

 

Man, that dude hit him like he wanted to crush him under his palm. His luck, that Eren was busy clearing his throat a few more times, otherwise he would have given the blond Goliath a little speech ala ‘ _With great strength comes great responsibility_ ’ or shit like that.

 

The distaste in Levi’s expression was clearly visible. Nevertheless, he looked kind of smug.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Very funny. Sit there and keep grinning, while I choke on bottled diabetes.”, he accused and the other gave him a wordless smirk.

 

“Anyways. I’m an anime fan myself.”, continued Eren when he was finally done ridding his windpipes of sugary liquid and had assured Eld that he wasn’t going to die anytime soon.

 

“Oh?”

 

“Yeah!”, he nodded excitedly. “I love anime!” _Payback time_. “I watched Sailor Moon _ALL_ the time when I was younger!”

 

He grinned widely through the moment of silence, before Mikasa broke it with a bellowing laugh and Levi’s mild frown turned into a glare.

 

“Ass.”

 

“Nerd.”

 

“That’s not even an insult!” Their heads turned in Hange’s direction, who was leaning halfway over the table to defend the honor of all geekiness and they shared a low chuckle.

 

“Whatever. I meant it though. I’m watching quite some stuff myself.”

 

Levi leveled a slightly doubtful look at him, but Eren didn’t get a chance to back up his statement with a few examples, because Hange was still leaning over the table, belly almost touching the wooden top with how far she had to stretch to reach them and before anyone could question what the hell she was doing, she began placing small shot glasses in front of them.

 

“Hange we have school tomorrow.”

 

_Erwin, always the voice of reason._

 

“You always have _something_. Live a little!”

 

Eren eyed the drink suspiciously and sniffed the clear liquid, before he looked at Mikasa, but the girl wasn’t all that fazed with the new development. She was aware, that they legally weren’t allowed to drink, right?

 

“It’s vodka.”, supplied Levi and shoved his own glass to the brunette.

 

“Uh…”

 

“I’m driving.”

 

“Ah, yeah, of course… Can I… uhm… really?”

 

The older shrugged as if it wasn’t any of his business and Eren swallowed anxiously.

 

Did he _know_ , what the responsible course of action would be? Abso-fucking-lutely.

 

You didn’t drink when you had to go to school on the next day. And you certainly didn’t drink when you were fifteen years old and then there was the tiny issue, that he had never consumed any alcohol before and starting his journey into intoxication with vodka was probably the best way straight to hell.

 

But here is the thing.

 

Eren really wanted to try it. Not because he felt like he needed to prove something to the people around him. In fact, he was pretty certain that peer pressure wasn’t a thing for them – aside from Hange just trying to force everything she wanted to do on the rest of the group – and nobody would bat an eye if he refused to consume the liquids in front of him.

 

He was simply a stupid teenager. And curious. And pretty damn certain that he wouldn’t get another chance to see what all the fuss was about within the next three years of his life.

 

“Well, alright.”

 

He raised the glass with the rest of the seniors, a lot more enthusiastic than the older students who seemed to just want to get it over with to shut Hange up and within seconds, he downed the content into his mouth and swallowed hastily.

 

“Fucking shit…” That _burned_.

 

Mikasa hadn’t touched her glass yet and only raised it when he reached for the second shot, showing him a knowing grin. There wasn’t even a twitch in her expression, when she threw her head back and emptied it in one gulp, while Eren grimaced through a variety of emotions.

 

Discomfort being one of them. The exact same face you made when you bit into a lemon was very dominant. Disgust maybe? Yeah, _definitely disgust_.

 

He forgot about the taste of alcohol pretty quickly, when he felt a hand in his hair and the lines in his face smoothed out, expression turning into a grin.

 

“Don’t make it a habit, okay?”

 

“Yes, sir!”

 

“Dork…”

 

Yeah, kind of. He wasn’t instantly drunk, but he felt the warm buzz in his belly and even without it, he usually had no shame in stealing Levi’s brotherly affection from Mikasa. She didn’t need it anyway, at least not at the moment. The girl looked rather unimpressed, as if she had that stuff for breakfast every morning.

 

He leaned a little more into the touch, while he mentally compared Mikasa to an elf with orc blood. Beautiful on the outside, scary on the inside.

 

All but nuzzling into the hand stroking through his hair, he closed his eyes.

 

 _Stupid half-elves_.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little story time: When I was younger, it was actually still legal in Germany to drink beer (and beer only) at the age of 16. Yeah, that was a long, long time ago. I'm that old.  
> The legal age for the hard stuff (or anything else for that matter; wine, cocktails, you name it) was/is 18.  
> Did I ever drink during week nights? Hell yes. Did it ever happen, that I went to school drunk or hungover? You bet your ass it did. I wasn't a crazy party teenager but you're in school till the age of 19 in Germany (if you want to be eligible for university), were allowed to drink during the last 3 years of school and stupid teenagers do stupid things sometimes. Also: A bottle of 0.5l beer was literally 70 Cents (which is less than 80 US Cents) so drinking really wasn't a party thing only. We had a beer in the afternoon in the park while doing homework and shit like that *lol* Obviously not a responsible way to deal with alcohol, but that's how things were. Now you know. Don't judge me!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren is drunk. And affectionate.

 

 

“I love you guys so much!”

 

The siblings hummed simultaneously. Seemed like his heartfelt confession didn’t warrant a more emotional reaction.

 

 _So_ rude.

 

Why didn’t they believe him? He was pouring his heart out here and all he got was a pat from Mikasa on his hair.

 

“I totally mean it!”

 

He looked up at the girl, his head currently resting on her thigh in the back of Levi’s car and Eren wasn’t quite sure how he had managed to lay down and where his legs were stored in the small space.

 

Wiggling his toes a little, he decided that yes, his limbs were definitely still attached to him, before he turned his head to the front, where Levi was maneuvering the car through the streets, occasionally looking back over his shoulder to check on him.

 

He remembered that they had dropped Petra off somewhere. At home probably. It was the most logical conclusion after all, right?

 

And now, after loosing one of their passengers, they were going to…

 

Uh…

 

“Where are we going?”, he slurred and the teen behind the wheel chuckled.

 

“Our place.”

 

“Huh…?”

 

Damn, Sokrates had nothing on him. Was he eloquent or what?

 

“Mikasa has curfew and I’m going to walk you home.”

 

He tried to raise his upper body in protest, propping himself on his elbows but his friend pushed him back down by the forehead.

 

Didn’t mean he couldn’t whine like a little bitch.

 

“But that takes like… _forever_!!”

 

“No, it doesn’t, and you need to clear your head. I’m not going to let your parents hound my ass because you’re stupid enough to drink when you can’t handle it.”

 

“I can totally handle it!”

 

“They’ll ground you till you’re thirty, idiot.”

 

Eren frowned, turning his face into Mikasa’s stomach like a pouting child and she gave him another pat on his head.

 

_He could totally handle it!_

 

But man, was he tired. And fuzzy. Like when you hadn’t slept in two days _and_ hit your head on a door frame. At least Mikasa was warm, albeit uncomfortable.

 

Why was everything so fucking hard? Was that abs he felt, while pressing his nose into her stomach? Totally not cool. He didn’t have any and there was stuff he could forgive like being late or forgetting a birthday or saying something rude, but this?

 

There was minor misdemeanor and then there was complete _injustice_.

 

Yepp, he was totally going to cut her off as a friend. She hadn’t said that she loved him back anyways. No harm done.

 

That’s what you did to people you liked when they had a six-pack. Absolutely reasonable.

 

“Alright, up you go.”

 

Eren wasn’t sure if Levi had meant to be so rough when he grabbed his hands and hauled him out of the car, or if gravity was simply working against him.

 

 _Gravity_. He would get rid of that bitch too. Who did she think she was?

 

Mikasa exited the car through the other door and walked around the parked vehicle, before she said good bye and ruffled Eren’s hair, only to elicit a frown from him. There were only so many Ackermann’s allowed to treat him like a kid from time to time and she hadn’t made it into the club yet with her dumb elven beauty and her stupid orc abs.

 

“Mnnhh…”, he complained, and she laughed in return.

 

 _Can you believe that girl_?

 

Ugh, he was so going to show her tomorrow. When he wasn’t so tired. And annoyed. And the ground wasn’t moving so much.

 

Why was the ground moving?

 

“Woah, careful there.”

 

Levi threw an arm around his shoulder to steady him, when Eren swayed precariously in the drive way.

 

“’S not my fault. ‘S the stupid ground. And that bitch.”

 

“Bitch?”

 

The siblings shared a confused look and Eren groaned.

 

 _Come on guys_ , did he have to explain everything to them?

 

“Gravity!”

 

The confused stare turned into something more meaningful, but the brunette didn’t give a shit. Dumb sibling telepathy or whatever.

 

Mikasa made a motion with her hands, zipping her lips, while Levi grinned and Eren felt it was high time to get away from the elf-orc-witch that made fun of him.

 

“Let’ss goo. Don’t listen to her voodoo.”

 

“Sure, buddy.”

 

Eren felt like he had missed something, while the hand on his shoulder migrated into his armpit for better support. Why was Levi smiling so much? Had he said something funny?

 

“Don’t…”

 

“Don’t what?”

 

He raised his hand, weakly pawing at the fingers below his shoulder in hopes that Levi would remove them. “’S dirty... SSweat”

 

The older teen chuckled, and his grip grew tighter. “It’s alright Eren. Thanks though.”

 

Man… Levi was so _nice_.

 

Hence, he mumbled “S-So nice…” between his teeth and the hand on his upper ribs squeezed him briefly.

 

“Tell mom, I’ll be back in a bit.”

 

There was some affirmative from Mikasa and then Eren was suddenly moving. Or rather stumbling? In his defense, Levi could really have warned him.

 

He reached for the older teen’s shirt to stop tripping over his own feet and groaned in frustration, as soon as his fingers made contact.

 

“What– Why with the… fucking abs?”

 

Eren missed the mark a little, when he clawed at the fabric, shoving it up on Levi’s side to reveal half of his abdomen, the belly button barely peeking out below the shirt.

 

“There… ‘S something wrong with you fucking Ackermann’s!”

 

“Oi, stop groping, brat!”

 

He frowned at the bit of exposed skin, then at Levi himself but his senior looked mostly amused and Eren turned his head a few times, looking up and down the street, to figure out what he had seen that was so damn entertaining.

 

“Unfair… ‘S totally unfair…”

 

And because he felt, that he should repay Levi for his kindness in the whole hand-in-his-sweaty-armpit-situation, he added “’S pretty though…”

 

Levi gave him a fond look, but he didn’t get to answer him, before their _meaningful_ conversation was interrupted by the sound of quickly approaching footsteps.

 

It was Mikasa again, a water bottle in hand and Eren pondered momentarily if she really was an elf. Fast like the wind and all that, considering that they had made it at least… thirty feet from the driveway?! _Oh_ …

 

“Here, drink that.” The bottle was thrust into his free hand and she turned around without another word and jogged back to the entrance of the house.

 

Okay… _maybe_ she was nice too.

 

He still had his suspicions though. One simply didn’t trust a roguish elf, because of a bottle of water.

 

“Love you guys so much.”, he repeated his earlier confession for good measure, before he frowned once more.

 

Hadn’t he just decided that Mikasa wasn’t worthy of the sentiment for some reason?

 

Something about… what was it? Dragons? No, that didn’t make sense. And fucking hell, did his head hurt!

 

“You anyways…”

 

“I’d tease you, brat, but I’m honestly just glad that you’re not the fucking annoying kind of drunk and didn’t start vomiting all over the place yet.”

 

Levi’s hold tightened for a moment as he tried to correct Eren’s chosen route and the brunette giggled.

 

Had he told Levi yet, how nice he was? Better to make sure. “You’re so nice!”

 

“Yeah…”, a low chuckle rumbled in the older boy’s chest. “You mentioned that.”

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

Being the naïve, determined guy that he was, Eren swore to himself to never touch alcohol again, when he woke up the next morning. Little did he know, that the upcoming years of adolescent foolishness would make him drop his vow faster, than a girl her panties in front of Chris Hemsworth. Be that as it may, when he blinked his crusty eyes open, trying to roll over to save his retinas from the diabolic burn of the days first, gentle rays of sunshine, falling through the window, he immediately formed the conviction to stay abstinent for the rest of his life.

 

That, and to buy Levi something, to repay him for his kindness – yeah, he remembered. He had drunk two shots, not half the bar. Maybe a nice, germ-free lunch box, or a scarf, or whatever it was that one gave away to show appreciation. Soap? Scented candles?

 

Jesus fuck, Eren. _Way_ to girlish.

 

Whatever. The only appropriate gesture would probably be to get him a damn castle.

 

Not only had the senior basically carried him home and put up with all his dumb babbling, but also maneuvered him through the minefield that was Carla Jäger’s tingling spider senses. The walk and the water had helped for Eren not to make an ass of himself as soon as he entered his home – that would have been a dead giveaway – and the gum Levi had provided out of nowhere only minutes earlier, had dispelled the telltale scent in his breath. When his mom had asked why he looked pale, the older boy had immediately jumped in, explaining that he thought Eren had eaten something bad at the diner and that he didn’t feel so well himself.

 

Ridiculous. As if Levi was ever going to touch food in such a place.

 

It had worked though and after a quick good bye, Eren had fled to his room, half assured that his mom was none the wiser.

 

So yeah, castles.

 

Not that his budget covered luxurious mansions and while Levi definitely deserved one, he’d have to make do with Eren’s eternal gratitude for now.

 

Maybe food stamps too. That seemed like an actually attainable item.

 

Aside from the bottomless pit of appreciation, there was the equally bottomless hole of shame. You know, the one that was so fucking deep and full that you instantly realized, you would never be able to empty it, so why not jump right into the mud and burry yourself in the dirt.

 

Because Eren _vividly_ remembered some sort of half-assed attempt of undressing his senior and if memory served him right, he’d called him pretty.

 

 _Pretty_.

 

Not handsome – okay, equally bad – or cool or awesome.

 

Nope _. Pretty_.

 

And then there was that thing with Mikasa and he honestly wasn’t able to tell what was going on in that pea-sized brain of his, but the first thing popping into his mind when he thought of her, was a fucking _dragon_.

 

Or an Orc? No. Something about voodoo?

 

One way or another: No more alcohol for this fella. The blessing of youth was apparently enough to save him from a hangover, but his behavior in the previous night alone, was enough to convince him that drinking wasn’t his game.

 

There were only two plausible ways to act at this point, aside from remembering that Mikasa was a warrior, not a giant lizard:

 

One was, to man up, say thanks to Levi and apologize for any ‘bratty’ behavior.

 

Option number two? Never speaking to the man again and hoping that the news of Eren groping his senior didn’t spread among the fangirl squad.

 

Obviously, he went with number two.

 

For all of five seconds.

 

Not because Eren wasn’t determined, oh no. He felt just as strongly about evading the upperclassman, as about his thoughts to refrain from booze, but the tiny issue, that presented itself to him as soon as he checked the time on his smartphone was, that… well… Levi had texted him.

 

Fucking sixth sense or something. He’d probably sniffed out that Eren was hellbent on running from him over the distance of their homes and was determined to milk the previous evening until the brunette died of humiliation.

 

Oh well, at least he would get a free ride, because the short, clipped text said nothing but…

 

 **< Unknown number> **  
06:12AM  
We’ll pick you up for school at 07:30. Don’t make me wait. -Levi

 

Eren had a vague déjà vu moment, contemplating if he should stop being friends with Mikasa too, because it was very obviously her, who had given Levi his number.

 

Then he realized, that he had less than 25 minutes to get ready, before the older boy would drill him with his death stare for making him wait.

 

There really was only one consoling thought at this point: However he had behaved, it was probably still less dubious than Hange on an average day and maybe, just maybe, he didn’t have to spend the ride to school in complete embarrassment.

 

One way or another, even if he had to wallow in shame throughout the short trip to school, it was still less terrifying than the idea, to write Levi back and decline his ‘offer’.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feels like this is becoming a therapy fic, where I'm spilling all my youth secrets.  
> I am and have always been an affectionate drunk. Granted, I don't get drunk anymore these days (or *very* rarely). High Noon was probably in my twenties, when I had not only the time and money to go party, but the god damn energy (Yepp, old lady here). I hereby apologize to every poor being that has ever been at the receiving end of my alcohol induced acts of love. I don't think I ever tried to undress someone (against their will, wink wink), but I'm getting very tactile and very honest. I'm sorry folks, it was probably embarrassing to listen to my declarations and confessions, but they came from the heart. I've never compared anyone to an orc though, alcohol or not. I usually stick with the basics (hottie, asshole, snob, please sit on my face, I want your babies, …) ;P


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers. I'm somewhat sorry to present you with this chapter, since I had planned for it to be a lot more fun and all, but it has just gotten too long and I decided to split it and not make you wait even more. Eren is visiting Levi and I had meant for this to be their actual meeting, but alas, this will have to wait till the next chapter and this is seriously just an interlude to them spending the afternoon/evening together and doing some boy-talking. I thought about shortening it and get to the point but... I just don't want to rush through it and keep the development between them a little natural. With that being said, I know this is not a very exciting read but looking at the fic as a whole, I think it will be smoother this way. Obviously, I still hope it will be somewhat enjoyable to read :)

 

 

When everything was said and done, Eren wasn’t quite able to understand anymore, what the hell he had been thinking. _Obviously_ , the senior hadn’t made fun of him.

 

The brunette had mumbled a thank you while entering the car, Levi had shrugged and that was that. Why on earth he had ever worried that the older teen would tease him for the previous evening, he had no idea.

 

We’re talking about Levi here after all, not horse face.

 

Calm, kind, down to earth Levi who had 2000 school girls drooling over every step he made and every breath he took.

 

You didn’t turn into the object of desire for every single female being in the building by being an asshole, no matter how hot you looked, and Levi wasn’t even that attractive.

 

Not that Eren knew, he just found him… normal?

 

Good looking, yes, but not exactly an Adonis cut from marble.

 

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best analogy. The upperclassman _was_ pretty pale after all and his skin _did_ look kind of smooth and he was definitely more muscular than Eren.

 

But he digressed.

 

Point was, Levi hadn’t made a single comment about the groping and the weird compliments and apparently the whole reason for picking Eren up, was to make sure that he was doing fine the following morning.

 

Talking about angel in disguise here. The brunette started to think that Levi’s picture should be included in every lexicon – next to the words _nice_ , _decent_ or _awesome_ _sauce_.

 

So, Levi behaved as usual and Mikasa didn’t do much besides showing a knowing grin from time to time, that reminded Eren, why he liked her so much in the first place. God knew, she was too smart to give Jean any ammunition by discussing Eren’s little mishap at the lunch table. Out of all the people in their group, she was probably the one who was the most invested in making sure, that the pony’s ego didn’t fly through the roof and only now began the brunette to understand, that he wasn’t the only one at the receiving end of her motherly supervision.

 

She just had a different approach to different types of personality.

 

While Eren had to be held by his hand like a lost toddler from time to time, Jean seemed to be the kind of guy that needed a good beating every now and then.

 

Not in the literal sense, more as in punching the fact into his brain that the world didn’t evolve around him. Mikasa had that covered just as good as complimenting Krista in a calm, genuine manner, when everyone else was just gushing about how perfect she was. She was believable instead of over the top, honest instead of being nice for the sake of it, firm but not unfair and Eren wondered, if he should stop seeing her as a Valkyrie and embrace her existence as a momma bear.

 

When lunch came and the usual study session with it, Eren happily accepted, that nothing had changed at all, while he pondered over math assignments and begrudgingly listened to Levi’s name calling.

 

Brat, moron, shit stain, the usual.

 

What he didn’t think about, was that there actually was a difference between the present and the previous day. One, that was only brought back to the forefront of his mind two days later, while he lazed around in front of the TV, watching whatever Netflix had thrown at him.

 

Levi had his number now.

 

_And he messaged him._

 

“Uh…” Eren stared at the small device in his hand with a puzzled frown as he read and reread – and rereread, you know, just to be safe – what the senior had sent him, but that didn’t help him to make any more sense of it.

 

 **< Smells like teen spirit>**  
05:18PM  
Want to hang out?

 

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed.

 

 _Of course_ , he wanted to, but he couldn’t help the distinct feeling, that the message hadn’t been meant for him.

 

Eren… Erwin…  
Erwin… Eren…

 

Kind of easy to mix those names up when quickly typing a message. Then again, usually people had a whole conversation window with those they had previously texted and Levi would have needed to specifically open one with him, right?

 

Tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth, he turned the phone to the side and hammered down a quick reply. It wasn’t totally absurd, they had already seen each other after school and spent a lot of time studying together. If Levi had made a mistake in writing him, Eren would take it like a man and get over it.

 

Hopefully.

 

 **< Jägerbomb>**  
05:19PM  
Sure.

 

 **< Smells like teen spirit>**  
05:19PM  
The idiot squad is working on a presentation at the last second. As usual.

 

Eren grinned over the instantaneous response. That Levi explicitly told him, he was the seniors second choice, didn’t even register with the overzealous teenager.

 

 **< Jägerbomb>**  
05:20PM  
Let me guess. You already finished the assignment before it was even announced in class.

 

 **< Smells like teen spirit>**  
05:20PM  
Obviously.

 

A light giggle bubbled from his chest this time and he shook his head.

 

How Levi managed to stay ahead of his school work was a mystery to Eren. The upperclassmen had all his free time to his disposal, since he didn’t work any part-time jobs, but Levi was out and about a lot, from what Mikasa had mentioned here and there. Hell, half of the time he came to her during lunch to tell her, that he had to do something or be somewhere and couldn’t drive her home.

 

Maybe he was just so good, that he remembered everything from his lessons and books with minute precision, like a guy with savant syndrome or eidetic memory.

 

Knowing Levi, Eren wouldn’t put it past him to just pull a whole presentation out of his ass on the spot, without preparing _anything_ for it.

 

 **< Jägerbomb>**  
05:20PM  
Alright, you’re coming over?

 

He set the smartphone down, eyes finding their way back to the screen in front of him, before he made the crucial mistake to let his gaze wander a little too low and glance at the TV unit beneath.

 

 _Shit_.

 

Eren’s head spun from left to right quickly, giving his room a once-over and he wasn’t exactly pleased with what he saw.

 

Now, the brunet prided himself on not living like the hybrid of a caveman and a messy, pubescent urchin with hygiene issues, but it wasn’t exactly _clean_ around him.

 

Or tidy, for that matter.

 

He was a man, alright? And a man needed his… creative space… or something.

 

Don’t throw the first stone, live and let live, yada yada yada.

 

Eren snatched the phone from the bed, hoping that the other hadn’t just jumped right into his car already, but the prompt replies from before had stopped and no answer from Levi waited for him.

 

 **< Jägerbomb>**  
05:24PM  
On second thought…

 

 **< Smells like teen spirit>**  
05:24PM  
?

 

Well, that was quick. Seemed like the older student hadn’t put the phone down, but been pondering how to tell him, that he wouldn’t set foot in Eren’s _cesspool of teenage sweat and dirty ass wipes_ – or at least that was, what the brunet imagined Levi’s thoughts to sound like.

 

 **< Jägerbomb>**  
05:25PM  
Maybe I come over instead.

 

 **< Smells like teen spirit>**  
05:25PM  
Definitely.

 

He chuckled once more, setting the phone down to get up and go on a quick hunt for deodorant and a clean shirt, to make a halfway decent appearance to the Ackermann household.

 

Thinking things through wasn’t Eren’s strongest suit and looking at his surroundings, he wouldn’t have wanted to invite Mikasa or Armin either, without a little cleaning. Levi’s condition had completely slipped from his mind and he could only shake his head about how insensitive he was sometimes without even realizing it.

 

The older teen was doing fine in a familiar environment, from what Eren could tell, but he didn’t know how much of it stemmed from the rules, which Levi had already enforced there.

 

Luckily, no harm done.

 

The other hadn’t called him a complete idiot and the brunet shot him a quick message, that he was on his way as he hopped down the stairs, before he shouted through the house that he’d be out and made his way to his bike.

 

 

 

♦♦♦

 

 

 

“I could have picked you up, stupid.”, was the first thing he heard when Levi opened the door for him.

 

In a quick battle between synapses, ridicule won over affront and Eren rolled his eyes in return and shook his head. “We’re not living that far apart, dude. It took me ten minutes.”

 

Being let in, he placed his shoes neatly next to the entrance and shot a quick look into the open – and very much empty – living space.

 

“Mikasa isn’t here?”

 

“Na, she had some…”, Levi made a dismissive gesture while he walked up to the counter separating the kitchen from the living room, before he shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. Doctor’s appointment? Date? Call to save the universe?”

 

A grin plastered itself over Eren’s features. Completely viable options – all of them.

 

“And everyone else is slaving away at home to get their presentation done?”

 

The older teen nodded, as he rounded the counter and headed for the fridge. “Well, everyone but Hange, I guess.”

 

“You didn’t want to hang with her?”

 

Levi stopped his motion to turn around and shot him a quizzical look, before he raised a single eyebrow and the hand, that had been reaching for the handle of the refrigerator, dropped back to his side.

 

“You don’t have to be here, if you don’t want to.”

 

“What?!” Eren shook his head quickly and – probably – a little too vigorously, causing the other to look at him with mild surprise. “No, I totally wanted to hang out with you! You’re awesome!”

 

Levi seemed somewhat dumbfounded and the brunet felt his face heating up when he realized what exactly had slipped through his brain-to-mouth-filter.

 

 _Wow_ , he was turning into a blushing Armin.

 

Without another word, the older teen turned around and opened the fridge, offering Eren a chilled can of Cola, before he began to walk towards the stairs to the second floor.

 

He had never seen the upper level of the house and cradled his unopened drink with excitement, as he followed the raven, who, just in that moment, decided to carry on with their conversation.

 

“She can be annoying. Just like Erwin.”

 

Eren sent an inquiring look Levi’s way, which – obviously – wasn’t received since the younger teen was facing the older boy’s back as they climbed the stairs.

 

Bless Levi for his apparent mindreading abilities.

 

“Erwin is holier-than-thou and Hange is fucking crazy. Put them together and…”, the upperclassman waved his hand through the air, “you get something moderate and bearable.”

 

An unattractive snort slipped out of him and he made a measly attempt to stifle it, but Levi had already stopped on the top stair and graced him with a knowing smirk.

 

“And how’s that working?”

 

“You know… She makes him smoke pot and he can shut her up.”

 

Eren couldn’t force the boyish giggle down, that bubbled from his throat and Levi’s small, pearl white teeth flashed briefly in a subdued grin, before he continued walking to his room.

 

The weight of the moment only hit him fully, when he reached the entrance of Levi’s little realm and his eyes darted from his somewhat brownish, sweaty socks to the snow-white carpet, so pure and pristine as if Levi just _had_ to see and know of every single speck on top of it.

 

“Eh…”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

He looked up and met his senior’s grey eyes, while the older stood in front of his bed in the middle of a room that was so god damn empty and clean and _impeccable_.

 

“You sure?”

 

“Yeah.”, he shrugged and Eren swallowed before he set his foot into the room with the same reverence one might carry while walking down the isle of an old church. “Wouldn’t have invited you, if I wasn’t.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new day, a new chapter. I have to say: I'm pretty proud of this one. I had a good flow while writing this and - at least to me - it seems like this could actually be a natural conversation between teenage boys. What do male adolescents talk about, you ask? Well dicks of course and where to stick them into. In other words: Yepp, this is going to be fun.

 

 

“So… How are you doing?”

 

_Wow._

 

Welcome to the world of Levi’s small talk. A train wreck of a conversation starter for your mortified entertainment.

 

Eren’s face didn’t quite manage to decide what to do first: raise an eyebrow in question, gawk a little dumbfounded or grin like an idiot.

 

“Dude, you saw me three hours ago. Actually, you see me _every_ day. You know perfectly well how I’m doing.”

 

His snicker earned him an indignant scowl from his senior, but this time, the brunet didn’t let himself be intimidated. Levi’s attempt at casual chatting was horrible and way too entertaining.

 

“Come on, don’t give me that look, grumpy.”

 

There was a tiny twitch of the upperclassman’s eye to be seen and Eren decided to dial it back a little bit. Judging by Levi’s reaction, using one of the numerous pet names, Hange constantly threw at the older teen, didn’t seem like the best idea.

 

“Why did I invite you again?”

 

Rolling his eyes, Eren sighed out a low ‘ _pffsshh’_ at the question and plopped down on the end of the bed. “Stop sulking, I was like… what? The fifteenth person on your list? Do you see me pouting?”

 

“You beat Hange though.”, reminded Levi and they shared a short, content chuckle, before the older teen sat down next to him and pointed at the TV mounted on the opposite wall.

 

“We can watch something. I have a huge ass backlog of shows I want to see. Or play a game?”

 

Eren’s eyes followed his pointed finger and the teen immediately stared in disbelief at the console unit below the screen. “Dude… what the actual fuck!”

 

Ignoring the older student, muttering, that Eren needed to stop calling him a dude, the boy scrambled off the bed and crawled to the shelf, where a wide variety of home entertainment systems waited for him.

 

Not only did he spot an Xbox One and the latest PlayStation, but also older models of both, plus a Wii-U, Switch, a Super NES Classic, a freaking GameCube, N64, …

 

“Oh my god! Dude! Is that a Dreamcast?!”

 

“For fucks sake! Stop calling me ‘dude’!”

 

He sent an apologetic grin in Levi’s direction, before he turned back to what could only be called _the heaven for console gamers_ and shook his head. “Are your parents shitting money?”

 

The older teen didn’t dignify Eren’s question with an answer and got up himself.

 

There didn’t seem to be a lot of games for the modern consoles, probably because his senior bought digital copies and Levi started up the Switch, while the brunet sifted through the boxes of classic games for the older models, lined up neatly in a lower shelf.

 

“Don’t fuck up the order.”

 

“Yeah, yeah…”

 

As if Eren would forget about Levi’s OCD _twice_ in the same day.

 

They settled for Super Mario Party, a game that was casual, easy and the older boy hadn’t had much chance to play yet since its release, because he rarely invited others into his home. Seemed like Mikasa was his only and eternal company – or rival? – when it came to video games, simply because she was available.

 

That Levi wasn’t well acquainted with the game, sadly didn’t mean, that he couldn’t kick Eren’s ass and after yet another mini challenge resulting in the brunet’s spectacular failure, he let the controller sink into his lap and huffed in annoyance.

 

“Geez, how do you do that?”

 

“You think I own a bunch of plastic boxes for decoration?”, replied Levi with a nod in the direction of the shelf and Eren’s bottom lip jutted out in a miserable pout.

 

“This sucks. Is there anything you’re not good at?”

 

He had meant it as a joke, but the mask of deep contemplation suddenly cast over Levi’s features, made him groan loudly. Seriously, this douche had to _think_ about whether there was actually something he couldn’t do?

 

“Let me guess, you’ve got a horse dick too.”, he mumbled and the older snorted, still tapping through the menu of the game.

 

“I’m not Jean.”

 

And okay, usually Eren would have jumped at the chance to make a nasty joke about his classmate, but this time, Levi had made two crucial mistakes in his attempt to steer the conversation in another direction.

 

For one, the brunet never, ever wanted to even think about pony boy’s dick, no matter if it was for the sake of making fun of him and second…

 

“Jesus, you don’t even deny it!”

 

His eyes narrowed grimly, while he tried to drill a hole into Levi’s side with his stare alone and his senior shook his head, as a low laugh began to rumble in his chest. The only reasonable reaction – at least in Eren’s opinion – was, to shove the older teen’s shoulder in a half-assed attempt to topple him over.

 

Levi only laughed louder now.

 

“Must be nice… Bet the girls like it.”, he sighed wistfully and picked up his controller again, more determined than ever to wipe the floor with his new friend to bring some balance back to the universe.

 

God, if the senior was good at everything, did that mean there was a poor soul out there failing at whatever they did? Eren didn’t believe in Karma, but maybe it would be better to knock Levi down a notch, just to be safe.

 

“As flattering as your interest in my cock is…”, Eren grimaced a little at the choice of words and the other raised his controller again. “… I’m perfectly average.”

 

The brunet’s head whipped around, and he grinned, his own controller forgotten in his lap once more – they honestly wouldn’t get any more gaming done if things continued like this.

 

“You measured?”

 

“Show me a single male teenager who didn’t.”, deadpanned Levi and started another round with a nonchalant shrug. “I bet my ass even Armin had his dick out at some point.”

 

“No way!”, snorted Eren in return, looking back at the screen, before he reluctantly conceded. “Okay… maybe…”

 

The meaningful stare, Levi sent his way, was lost on him for a good five seconds. Then, the implication sunk in and the younger teen started spluttering a string of “Wait!” and “No!” and “That’s not what I meant!”

 

From the looks of it, it didn’t make a huge impression and Eren eventually resigned from his measly efforts to safe his dignity and gave up.

 

Yes, he had measured his dick too. So what? Sue him!

 

Cock-conversation still circling in his head, he picked up his controller _again_ while the next round finally started and – inspired by their recent talks about genitals – went on to chat about the next best related thing, popping into his head.

 

“So, how’s Petra doing?”

 

Yepp, much safer. Less focus on Levi’s junk and more on what – or who – he was doing with it.

 

“Petra?”

 

Well, so much for that. Didn’t seem like the other had any idea what the heck Eren wanted from him.

 

“Small, cute, ginger, same year as you?”

 

“How the hell would I know? Are you into her?”

 

TV forgotten, the brunet’s head turned so quickly in Levi’s direction, he felt like getting whiplash. “ _What?!_ ”

 

 _Great_ , now the senior not only thought that Eren had a strange obsession with Levi’s cock, but also his girlfriend. “Geez, no!”

 

He shouldn’t have insisted on it. Yepp, he totally shouldn’t have, because now, the older teen – after finally finishing up with destroying Eren in yet another mini game – cocked his head and fixed him with a soul penetrating stare and a grin with the charm of a shark’s snout.

 

“Wow, you totally are.”

 

“Am not!”, he almost cried but Levi was already chuckling again as his attention returned to the screen.

 

“Well, ask her out then. Don’t get your hopes up though. I don’t think she ever dated someone.”

 

“No. No, no, no. I would never!”

 

As if he would try to make a move on Levi’s girl! Did the older teen think he was insane? Or stupid? Both maybe? Eren had some lacking qualities, he could admit that much, but the suggestion was downright insulting. How could Levi even say something like–

 

 _Wait_ …

 

“Huh?”

 

“What?”, he got a short, lazy stare from his friend – yepp, that was another lost mini challenge. Levi was collecting and hoarding gold and stars like a damn dragon – and Eren’s face scrunched up in confusion.

 

“What do you mean, she never dated? I thought you guys are dating!”

 

“Na…”, Levi selected his buddy die and rolled, before his character hopped over the playing field. “She can’t handle my crazy, I can’t handle the sun constantly shining out of her ass.”

 

“How would you know without trying?”

 

The older teen shrugged and Eren’s eyebrows shot into his forehead when he saw the somewhat annoyed, somewhat dejected glint in Levi’s eyes.

 

“You screwed her?”, he deducted, followed by observing another shrug.

 

“Not good?”

 

Levi heaved a heavy sigh, as he realized that their game wouldn’t continue if he didn’t finish Eren’s cross-examination. It was the brunet’s turn to roll the die, but the controller was abandoned next to him for probably the millionth time since they had started, and all of his wide-eyed attention solely directed at the senior.

 

“No. It was fucking awkward. Can we continue?”

 

“Like… during? Or after?”, ignored Eren his question in favor of indulging in his own curiosity.

 

He hadn’t had sex yet, okay? He just wanted to get some insight!

 

“Both.”

 

The clipped answer was a bit of a bummer, but it also helped him a little, to come back to his senses. It seemed like a pretty sore topic for the upperclassman.

 

Had Eren mentioned that he tended to not think things through?

 

 _Yeah, this again_.

 

Instead of prodding further, he rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish nod and reached for the device next to his feet, intending to continue their game. “Sorry, I… Sorry, Levi.”

 

“It’s fine…”

 

He rolled the die under the, by now, much more relaxed gaze of the senior and it seemed like his genuine apology had helped to open a tiny crack in the door to Levi’s mind, as the other continued with a sigh.

 

“It’s been a while and we pulled ourselves together. No thanks to me though. We were both weird around each other, but she got fed up with how our friendship went down the drain.”

 

The cheery music and the happy jumping on the screen were a strange contrast to Levi’s somber revelation.

 

“I didn’t have the balls to talk it out. She did.”

 

“How long ago?”, dared Eren to ask, not paying much attention to the game. He received one penalty after another and lost his god damn cash all the time. That aside, he didn’t have a single star. No matter how much he busted his ass, he wouldn’t win anyways.

 

“Two years, more or less.”

 

“She was your first?”

 

 _Ugh, reign it in Eren!_ Hadn’t he just decided to stop throwing question after question at Levi?

 

Good for him, that Levi seemed much more content with talking about sex, than talking about Petra.

 

“No. This whole…”, he made a helpless gesture with his hand, “… thing with the girls at school had started a year before and I was a little… excessive?”

 

Pff, of course. Fucking womanizer.

 

The desire to crush the older teen in the match Eren had so obviously lost already, flared up with new vigor. On the other hand, Levi didn’t look exactly proud of himself and the brunet felt something akin to sympathy.

 

Welcome to his new life, were he pitied his friends for getting laid.

 

In all honesty, Eren probably wouldn’t have handled it differently. Which sane 16 years old boy – aside from Armin, maybe – would refuse a fuck, when it was thrown in his face?

 

“Wish I had your problems…”, he mumbled and leaned back, to rest against the foot of the bed. They had migrated to the floor before starting the game and the youngster stretched his legs out in front of him, while he watched Levi finishing his own turn.

 

“Whatever. If you want to ask Petra out, just do it? She’s not damaged goods, just because she slept with me.”

 

“Na, I’m good. It’s not like I’m desperately trying to find a girlfriend. Actually, I didn’t really think about it yet.”

 

His friend nodded and Eren started the endless cycle of rolling the die and getting crushed during his turn anew.

 

Did he want to have a relationship?

 

Yeah, probably, but he still vividly remembered the time when girls were ‘yuck, only a few years prior and he wasn’t in a rush to get things done. He was a 15 years old boy, for god’s sake, not a 40 years old cat-lady who came home to a dark apartment and the reek of feline piss.

 

He had his doubts anyways, that a girl could keep up with his pubescent hormone explosions. Most of the time, his thoughts circled around sex, not a partner, and he didn’t have qualms admitting, that he belonged to the giant pool of teenage boys with a hang for porn and a tissue box on his desk.

 

“I get it.”, answered the upperclassman and the sly grin on his face told Eren, that _yes_ , he understood indeed. Levi had probably gone through the same phase, where he had jerked it every chance he got.

 

 _Ah, the troubles of youth_.

 

“When was the last time?”, he tried to steer the conversation back to the original topic around Petra and Levi’s escapades with his schoolmates, because Eren really didn’t feel like starting to dive into his masturbation schedule.

 

Girls still fell over each other to please Levi and make an impression on him – when they actually dared to – which probably gave the older teen a lot of options and the brunet was definitely more comfortable with dissecting Levi’s hookups, than discussing his own, nonexistent sex life.

 

“Should I be concerned or amused, that you’re so invested in this topic?”

 

The screen announced Levi’s victory and another pout was plastered on Eren’s face, because of both: his loss and the mocking question from his friend.

 

“It’s interesting…”, he muttered, and the older teen chuckled and ruffled his hair.

 

“Ah, so you want me to give you the talk about the birds and the bees?”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, seriously sulking now and was rewarded with one of Levi’s signature snorts, before the senior finally took pity on him. “Fine, calm down, brat.”

 

The warm hand left his mop of brown hair and Levi leaned back too, resting his head on top of the mattress, before he continued. “What do you want to know?”

 

“Well…”

 

Eren fiddled a little with the hem of his shirt and stared at his lap. Now that the other had offered to answer his questions, his earlier bravado was gone.

 

This felt frighteningly close to a _very_ awkward conversation he had had with his father a few years ago and he didn’t want to emphasize the fact that he was a clueless virgin, by asking something stupid.

 

He couldn’t help it, okay? He wanted to look tough, like a grownup who knew his shit.

 

Levi never seemed to put any significance on Eren being three years younger than him, but the brunet still worried, that the other thought of him as a dumb kid.

 

Glancing quickly at the man next to him, he was met with the calm gaze of a very relaxed Levi. There was no mockery, no patronizing smirk, no belittling look, just endless, serene patience and Eren released a low sigh, when he realized once more that the older teen really wasn’t someone who made fun of others.

 

“Well, uhm… H-How… does it feel?”, he tried, watching Levi shrug in response.

 

“Wet, slimy, sticky? It’s pretty gross, but it feels good.”

 

An awkward chuckle tumbled from Eren’s lips and he rolled his eyes. Trust Levi, to summarize a steamy encounter between two people in the weirdest way possible. It certainly broke the ice though.

 

“I mean, it’s warm and soft…”, the brunet’s eyes widened, and he felt heat crawling into his cheeks, while his senior casually described the sensation of a woman’s insides around his cock, as if he was talking about the weather and finished with an easy “Probably blew my load after ten seconds, when I did it the first time.”

 

They laughed together, when their eyes met, and Eren felt himself relax despite their topic.

 

While he had probably subconsciously known it after their first real conversation, down in the kitchen, it was only now, that he realized, that he never needed to be shy or embarrassed in front of his newfound friend.

 

They hadn’t been acquainted for long, but Levi was open, honest and sincere in a way few people were. In fact, Eren could only think of one other person meeting the same criteria, which – not really surprising, all things considered – was Levi’s sister Mikasa.

 

When the older teen had offered to help with Eren’s homework, he hadn’t done it out of obligation and his willingness to talk about this – admittedly – awkward subject and answer questions, stemmed from his genuine wish to help.

 

Levi didn’t see it as an opening to tease him, nor did he judge him for his curiosity. At the end of the day, he was simply a decent, supportive friend.

 

“Here.”, the upperclassman got up, when they had decided to drop the topic for now and order some pizza. Eren’s eyes followed him walking around the bed and stared curiously, when he bent down to open the drawer of his bedside table.

 

In the next second, a box of condoms flew through the room and smacked him right in the face.

 

“W-What – “, the brunet tried to get a hold of the offending item, not wanting it to fall on the ground, before he realized what it was and jumped as if the damn thing had burned him, only for it to drop right into his lap.

 

In different circumstances, he might have cracked a joke, that the stuff seemed to perfectly know where it belonged.

 

Levi just rolled his eyes – almost a little dramatically – before he returned to his previous spot but didn’t sit down again. “It’s shitty to fumble around when you want to go at it. Use them to try it out.”

 

“ _Now?!_ ”

 

His squeak was so high-pitched, it would have put an opera singer to shame and the older teen looked at him, as if he had grown a second head.

 

“Not _now_ , you idiot! At home!”

 

“Oh! Yeah… right.”

 

_God damned, Eren._

 

He awkwardly reached for the box and looked for his sweater to hide the condoms in one of its pockets, while Levi gathered himself after the brunet’s spectacular display of stupidity and headed for the door.

 

“You got them, so use them.”

 

All he managed to do was a bashful nod, glancing at the condoms one more. It was _pretty obvious_ , what they were meant to be used for after all.

 

Immediately, the blush was back and Eren thought that it really started to become an actual problem.

 

He wasn’t Armin, for fuck’s sake!

 

“Then again…”, Eren’s eyes darted back to Levi, as the older boy spoke while opening the door. “If you’re too embarrassed to buy them yourself, you probably shouldn’t bang somebody either.”

 

“Uh…” Another nod followed and he swallowed nervously. When it came down to it, he couldn’t guarantee that he would heed Levi’s advice, but he could understand where he was coming from.

 

_You’re too uncomfortable with being a responsible adult? Then maybe wait with the adult stuff._

 

Putting that aside, it wasn’t lost on Eren, that the older student had given him the condoms no matter his words.

 

At the end of the day, it was probably more important to Levi, that his friend was safe, than grown up.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things I wanted to address/you might wonder about:
> 
>   * "Levi is pretty laid back": Yes, he is a teenage boy, not mid thirty and there is no devastating war going on. I try to keep him a little snarky and all, but I had to adjust him a little character-wise for obvious reasons
>   * I'm female, in case you wondered. Do boys talk about this stuff? I have no freaking idea. I think so? And I have it on good authorities, that dick measuring happens *a lot*. Me personally, I certainly had some dumb sex conversations with my friends while I was younger but I began to seriously and openly talk about sex and my genitals when I was in my twenties. Well, aside from that one time when I was 17 and my best friends mom talked to me about anal sex. That was kind of grown up and serious.
>   * "Is this really Ereri? Seems like they're just buddies.": Nope, it's going to happen, but they just met and especially Eren knows shit about sex or his sexuality. So cut me some slack, the love and smut will come. *points at 'strangers to friends'/'friends to lovers tags'* :P
> 



	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there. Work has been a little slow the last days, and I had time to write another chapter and for some reason they're getting longer and longer. Don't ask me why, I didn't give my consent to this :D Yes, I'm still writing my other fics, don't you worry. This one is just really easy to get out because it has a lot less introspection *lol* Emotions are so hard to write *sigh* But we'll get there in this fic too, so... there is that. In this chapter, we're dealing with more teenager problems - on the female side this time, if you catch my drift. Eren is a decent guy and earns himself Mikasa's and Levi's eternal gratitude, when our favorite black haired girl has a little accident at school. Enjoy!

 

 

By the time mid-February rolled around, Eren had been to Levi’s place quite a few times. Sometimes, Mikasa was around, other times they went out with the senior’s friends and the brunet felt proud to say, that in just one and a half months, he had built an actual relationship with the older teen.

 

Levi’s graduation was less than half a year away, and Eren didn’t really want to think about missing him in school, but the young man had already told him, that his college of choice was in the same city.

 

Trost wasn’t small. After all, it harbored a high school with a few thousand students and obviously had a university to match and while the upperclassman had expressed in one of their conversations, that he would have liked to venture out of town, it seemed like staying in a familiar area was the better option.

 

Levi couldn’t imagine himself living in a dorm and even with his parents paying for tuition, he wouldn’t have enough money for his own apartment.

 

Busting his ass in grimy part-time jobs to make up for it, didn’t seem to be something he could imagine himself doing and he didn’t hide his anxiety about future occupations behind false bravado.

 

No matter his strides in therapy, he was still facing a lot of difficulties and a change of venue in the future might make things a lot harder.

 

For now, though, he had decided to remain with his parents and study in Trost and Eren had no doubts, that they would stay connected when Levi left the school.

 

Their daily study sessions during lunch continued, with Eren earning the first outstanding grades for their combined efforts. All in all, life was good, and the teen didn’t miss his last school the least bit.

 

He was well integrated, not only in his own year, thanks to Mikasa, but also the overall school population in general. Because of Levi, people knew him, and he received help and consideration without even asking for it.

 

His performance in several subjects had increased significantly, earning him a lot of freedom from his parents: more pocket money, later curfews and an abundance of praise and rewards in form of his favorite meals, clothes he wanted or video games he innocently asked for, only to name a few.

 

Eren hadn’t really imagined, that the day would arrive, when he proved his worth. Much less than that he had thought, that he wouldn’t even be aware of it. Alas, so was life and the brunet would thank his parents for raising him into a decent person, for years to come.

 

After gathering his bearings, he honestly didn’t find it to be so much of a big deal at the time and learned only later that, despite her badass attitude, Mikasa was simply human and had been just as embarrassed and vulnerable as Eren was, when he sported a random boner in class.

 

_Yeah, it happened, okay?_

 

The meaningful – scratch that, _desperate_ – glare he had given his teacher back then, to convey his circumstances when she had called him to the blackboard, had been his saving grace and he didn’t give a shit if other students disliked Mrs. Brzenska. She had let him be with a blank stare and exasperated roll of her eyes and was, for now and all eternity, his super hero among the teachers.

 

That being said, Eren didn’t have the same feeling of urgency as Mikasa when the situation unraveled. It was just a normal school day – Tuesday, probably? – and they were about to finish up math class, when things went south for the black-haired girl.

 

“Everyone got that?”

 

The brunet nodded to himself and jotted down a few more notes, as Mr. Shadis addressed the class.

 

He was a gruff guy with a short fuse but since Eren’s proficiency in his most hated subject had increased considerably, they had formed some sort of silent understanding.

 

Begrudgingly on the teacher’s side and a little smug on the student’s, but an understanding, nonetheless.

 

The bell rang and a telltale rustling sounded through the room, indicating that most of his classmates had begun to pack their materials away, before the bald man in front of them interrupted.

 

“Not so fast, you little turds!”

 

_Yepp, Shadis was a disciplinary hearing waiting to happen._

 

The moments where he didn’t insult them were far and few between.

 

“I want you to finish page 52 till Friday!” And then, because he was a bit of a dick: “No damn excuses this time, everything you hand in, will be graded!”

 

A unanimous groan sounded around the teenager and he was tempted to release a suffering sigh himself, but Eren knew, that Levi would help him to finish the assignment in no time and, compared to his fellow students, he really didn’t have anything to complain about.

 

The class was dismissed after another minute of half-assed attempts to convince the teacher to cut them some slack – obviously, it was fruitless – and the brunet began gathering his belongings from the table, while Mikasa made a few final notes in her folder.

 

“Ready to go?”

 

Most of their classmates had shuffled out of the room by now, as well as the teacher who was, judging by his usual smell, probably running to the next exit to smoke a cigarette and Eren waited patiently, when his friend nodded and stuffed her folder into her backpack.

 

“You’re coming tonight?

 

“Mm-hmm”, hummed Eren in confirmation, shouldering his own bag and when Mikasa finally got up to leave the room, he followed closely behind.

 

To be frank, what he did next was probably on the list of _questionable behavior towards your friend_ , but things like that happened and while Eren wasn’t interested in her, he wasn’t dead either.

 

Evidentially, Mikasa had, on all accounts, a pretty fucking nice ass and if his eyes occasionally strayed downwards when she made the mistake of stomping ahead of him, so be it.

 

It wasn’t something he admitted towards her or her brother – god knew what wrath he might have to face if Levi ever got wind of him checking out his sister, good-natured attitude and solid friendship aside – but the girl he considered one of his best friends was a solid ten out of ten, even he had to agree to that, and the gentle sway of her hips when she walked had its charm.

 

Today though, he was met with an unexpected view and he stopped in his tracks as soon as he caught sight of her backside.

 

“M-Mikasa?”

 

“Hm?”

 

The girl turned around and Eren’s eyes darted to the open door right in front of them, where numerous students passed by, before he made the poorly thought-out decision, to shove her out of the way and reach for the handle.

 

“What are you doing?!”

 

He only turned around, when the entrance to the room was shut and met her annoyed eyes.

 

 _Yepp, once again: Fucking think before you act, Eren_.

 

Seemed like he had almost jostled her into a nearby table.

 

“Uhm, sorry, I– Your, ehm, your– “

 

“ _What?_ ”

 

_Ugh, get it together._

 

Her suddenly pissed-off glare almost rivaled Levi’s, when Hange didn’t stop pestering him.

 

Taking a deep breath, he nodded in the direction of her crotch – _way too dig yourself deeper into the hole, idiot_ – and gestured uselessly, as he tried to convey his message.

 

“Y-You, eh, bleed? P-Probably got your p-period?”

 

The stuttering didn’t help to get the words across, but in his defense, he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that he shook in disgust, just alarm and considering that he didn’t have to deal with this shit on a monthly basis – or look at it – he found it acceptable that his initial instinct, when he spotted the _giant red stain_ on Mikasa’s ass, was, to feel mildly panicked.

 

Yeah, he knew that it was perfectly normal, but the Neanderthal part of his brain told him, that _blood_ meant _wounds_ , so he might have been a little shocked at first, from seeing the huge-ass evidence of her strawberry week.

 

The girl in front of him deflated a little, the anger draining away from her face, and while it made obvious, that she had understood every word of his muttered sentence, she only replied with a meek “Huh?”

 

Looking at her wide-eyed stare, he sobered up a little and his body finally caught up to what his brain had already realized a good three minutes ago: _No, Mikasa wasn’t actually bleeding out of her ass._

 

It helped to rid him of his nervous fidgeting, and he exhaled a deep breath, running a hand through his wild hair, before he sent a reassuring smile her way.

 

“Sorry. You, eh, got your period and it shows on your jeans.”

 

“Oh…”

 

A quick glance through the room confirmed that, yes, they were alone, just as Eren had thought when he had slammed the door shut.

 

He gazed back at her, standing there next to the table she had nearly fallen into and looking as if she didn’t quite know what to do with herself, and the brunet dropped his bag back to the ground and took off his sweater, between muffled words.

 

“You have anything for that?”

 

“No…”

 

“Look, uhm…”, his face got caught in the collar, but he managed to free himself with a bit of added force. “Just stay here, okay? I’ll find Krista and get you some… stuff. I bet she has something”

 

Thrusting his jumper into her chest, he reached for his backpack again and nodded at the clothing item in her hands. “If a teacher comes to throw you out before I’m back, just wrap it around your ass.”

 

_Wow, assuring speech there, Eren._

 

“I’ll be quick, yeah?”

 

She nodded with a weak smile and leaned back against the table, before the brunet turned on his heel and left the classroom in order to make good on his promise.

 

It was lunch break and the probability of finding Krista in the cafeteria was high, hence it was where he headed first.

 

The only thing he had to make sure of was, that Levi wouldn’t feel treated like an arse if he didn’t wait there for the senior.

 

Walking down the corridor as fast as he could without outright running, he pulled his smartphone from the front pocket of his jeans and typed a new message for his older friend.

 

 **< Jägerbomb>**  
12:22 PM  
I’m going to be late. Got a bit of a situation here.

 

Well, that sounded ominous. He should have worded that better.

 

A lot better apparently, because his phone started chiming in his hand merely 20 seconds later, while he still pushed through the crowd of students mingling in the corridor.

 

_Jesus motherfucking Christ, he didn’t have time for that!_

 

“Yeah?”

 

“ _What’s wrong? Are you alright?_ ”

 

Levi’s deep baritone voice sounded calm at the other end of the line, but Eren knew him well enough by now, to detect the hint of concern in his tone – not that his words weren’t obvious enough on their own.

 

“Ah, no, I’m fine.”, he barreled through another group of teenagers and sent an apologetic look their way. “It’s just, Mikasa– “

 

“ _What’s wrong with her?_ ”

 

_Fucking hell, Eren._

 

Searching for a sure-fire way to calm the upperclassman? Make sure, to bring his _damn sister_ into the mix!

 

“Well, uh…”

 

God, what the flying fuck was he even going to say? Would the black-haired girl skin him, if he started to divulge her menstruation adventures? Was it more likely for Levi to gut him, if he didn’t?

 

Rounding a corner, he heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed his face with his free hand, before he decided to spill. Mikasa might be embarrassed when this whole ordeal was over, but he didn’t want to put Levi through being worried, that something had happened to a member of his family. No matter, if his fears were justified or not.

 

He recounted what happened as quickly and quietly – no need to make it any worse by inviting others to eavesdrop on him – as possible, telling the young man, that his sister had gotten her period, didn’t have any tampons or pads with her and that her pants were soiled.

 

When everything was said and done, he heard a deep inhale through the speaker and muffled voices in the next moment.

 

“Levi…?”

 

Another second ticked by – he had made it halfway to the cafeteria by now, curse this fucking mammoth building – and as he was almost about to drop the call, thinking that his senior had some technical issues on the other end of the line, he finally received an answer.

 

“ _Go back to her. I’ll be there in five. Which room?_ ”

 

Eren abandoned his edgy semblance of Nordic walking and slowed down with a frown adorning his face. “Huh? Are you sure?”

 

“ _Yeah. The room?_ ”

 

“Oh, right.”

 

He disclosed the wing and number of the classroom they had been using and turned around, to break into a light jog back to the place he had been coming from.

 

By now, he at least knew the layout of the fortress well enough to maneuver through the corridors, without getting lost. Thank god for that.

 

Levi just answered with an affirmative grunt, before the call disconnected and – to Eren’s complete disbelief – already came down the hallway from the opposite direction when the brunet rounded the final corner.

 

_How did he do that?_

 

Eren had practically been running and seniors had their lessons on the opposite side of the building. Aside from that, he immediately spotted the fabric in Levi’s hand, meaning that the older teenager had not only flown here like the wind, but also procured new pants for his sister while he did so.

 

Sometimes he really wondered, if the members of the Ackermann family were some superhuman fuckers in disguise.

 

“This one?”

 

Eren was still catching his breath when they both came to a halt in front of the door and Levi pointed at it in question.

 

 _Nope, definitely not even mildly exhausted_. Levi rather looked as relaxed – albeit more put together – as if he had just gotten out of bed. Had Hange managed to invent a teleportation device while he hadn’t been looking?

 

“Yeah.”, he wheezed, and his friend didn’t wait for any further input and opened the door to enter the room.

 

“Levi? What are you doing here?”

 

Mikasa had raised her head, after previously looking down at her phone and her features were painted with mild surprise.

 

 _So far, so good_. She didn’t look annoyed just yet.

 

“Helping. You okay kiddo?”

 

Eren closed the door behind himself, while Levi walked to her and dropped the bundle in his hands onto the table next to the girl.

 

He had already guessed, that the bunch of fabric was meant to be a change for Mikasa and was proven right, when the item unfolded slightly, and a few tampons and pads tumbled over the wooden top of the desk.

 

“I’m fine.”, she rolled her eyes, reaching for the delivery. “I’m not sick, midget. It’s just my period.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

 

Still standing next to the room’s entrance, he watched the siblings in awe. Never had he thought, he would see the day, when Levi ignored a jab about his height, but apparently, he had a soft spot for his sister when she was in a pinch or it was simply, that miracles did, in fact, happen.

 

Why everyone was poking fun at the young man for how tall – or small – he was, escaped Eren a little. Levi was basically of the same level as him and the brunet teen hadn’t yet come to realize, that with his senior being three years older than him, Levi should have outgrown him significantly by now, but didn’t.

 

“Can I use this, Eren?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Following her line of sight, he noticed the sweater he had left with her earlier and was quick to nod, while she folded the other items back into a little bundle and stuffed them into her bag.

 

“Oh, yeah, absolutely!”

 

A grateful nod was sent his way and she wrapped the jumper around her waist and shouldered her backpack, before she looked from one to the other. “Well, I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Change and all. I’ll see you later?”

 

Eren just hummed in confirmation, but Levi lightly swatted the back of her head, telling her she could at least say ‘ _Thank you_ ’, and earned himself an annoyed glare. She did say it though, after a little huffing and puffing and vacated the room quickly, to leave the brunet and her brother alone.

 

“Well… wasn’t that exciting.”

 

Man, Levi rubbed off on him too much. Eren’s small talk was almost as bad as the senior’s by now, but at least it broke the silence.

 

The upperclassman sighed and ran a hand through his hair in quiet agreement, but the peace didn’t last long, when the younger boy cast a look through the room and furrowed his brows.

 

“Guess I better clean this, before Shadis comes back.”

 

“What?”

 

Levi stared in the same direction but didn’t seem to understand what Eren was talking about. To be fair Mikasa hadn’t exactly left an ocean of blood in her wake and the miniscule stains on her chair and the table she had been leaning on where barely noticeable.

 

Still, the brunet didn’t want an unsuspecting student to plant their ass down on it, because they had similar difficulties as Levi to see the remains of her body fluids.

 

He pointed the spots out more clearly and the black-haired teen next to him didn’t even try to hide his grimace.

 

“Are you sure? I could…”

 

Yeah, sure buddy. The way Levi’s sentence tapered of was more than enough evidence that he didn’t quite see himself doing something like this. Apparently, holding Eren by his sweaty armpit and removing the traces of his sister’s period played in different leagues.

 

“As if I’m going to make you touch that. I’m not inviting another crisis after averting the last one.”

 

With the threat of Shadis dropping back into the room and drilling them what the hell they had been doing, he went about it as quickly as possible with some paper tissues from his bag and a hand sanitizing spray, that Levi handed him without comment.

 

After a pointed look, he also used it on his own fingers, when the hankies had been thrown away.

 

“Well, let’s get out of here before the teacher comes back.” He quickly gathered his belongings and made for the door. “Where did you even get those pants from?”

 

“Hange.” Levi pushed off the table he had been leaning on in a similar fashion to Mikasa earlier and followed him through the room. “She’s head of the science club. There have been some accidents with chemicals in the past.”

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yeah.” The older teen shrugged. “She’s crazy, but even Hange wouldn’t walk home in her underwear and she has lost quite a number of pants in the last years.”

 

“Geez…”

 

He reached for the handle to open the room, happy not to see it again before Friday. If he was lucky, he would have forgotten about the unfortunate incident by then. He also idly wondered, how his sweater was faring, but his thoughts came to a sudden stop, when Levi’s slim fingers curled around the bony part of his shoulder and kept him from leaving through the door. “Eren, wait…”

 

“Hm?”

 

Turning around, his hand dropped back to his side and his eyes widened, as he looked at Levi’s face. “Thanks for helping her. I mean it.”

 

“Dude…” Not even the infamous title had an impact on the senior’s visage. Eren had seen the other in quite a few emotional states since befriending him, despite Levi not being the most expressive person out there, but this was something entirely new. “Everyone else would have done the same.”

 

“No.”, the young man shook his head and the brunet kept gawking in silence. He knew the look of fondness from the upperclassman, whenever Eren did or said something stupid but endearing, or when he asked for help and seemed a little lost. Right now, it was different, because Levi might have been staring at him with honest affection, but it had an even softer quality to it, that he didn’t quite know how to respond to, but loved all the same.

 

Most people would be swept off their feet upon witnessing such a genuine display of appreciation and gratefulness and Eren was no exception – even if he found that a little care and common sense on his side didn’t justify such a strong reaction from his friend.

 

“I know, you think it’s not a big deal.” Eren nodded mutely, as he listened to Levi’s words and the senior’s hand dropped from his shoulders to run through his hair, while he chuckled lowly. “But that’s not how it is. Imagine she had gone outside like this and someone made a stupid comment. She would have felt like crap.”

 

The way Levi shook his head and shrugged at the same time almost made him look a little awkward, before he cleared his throat and looked up, to fix Eren with his gaze. “She’s a little shit sometimes, but she’s my little shit, you know?”

 

Yes. No. Maybe?

 

The brunet didn’t have any siblings, but he understood how it felt, to care about family. Sometimes it was easy to forget, that between all their banter and rivalry, Mikasa was his baby sister and meant the whole damn world to him.

 

“It was nothing.”, he whispered, before they stared at each other in silence and when three seconds turned into twenty, Levi stepped forward and pulled him into an unassertive hug.

 

“Uh…” Eren sounded uncertain, but his arms didn’t share the sentiment and closed around his friend immediately, as if it was a bone deep instinct. “Really, it was nothing.”

 

He felt Levi’s nod and a soft pat on his back and while the moment was short lived, he was pretty certain that he was going to remember it for a long, long time.

 

That the older teenager would ever get so close to him, wasn’t something he had expected and Eren found himself enjoying it a lot more, than he had thought possible.

 

Levi’s back was warm under his hands, filled out and built, where the younger boy was still mostly lean and lanky. He felt tendons working and muscles shifting, when the senior moved, the bristles of his undercut rubbing against the side of Eren’s neck, the soft pressure of Levi’s pointy chin on his shoulder, the steady beat of the heart in the chest that leaned into his…

 

His friend smelt nice. There wasn’t a trace of sweat in his scent, only the mildest, masculine musk beneath fragrant layers of shower gel and aftershave and Eren didn’t really think about what he was doing, when he inhaled slowly, but deeply.

 

 _Comforting_ …

 

Well, he didn’t exactly need any comfort. Despite what Levi might believe, he hadn’t been traumatized by a little blood and the gesture was rather one of gratitude than meant to be soothing, but it felt really homey, nonetheless.

 

Why was he even analyzing this?

 

 _It’s just a hug Eren_.

 

The upperclassman withdrew after a moment. It had certainly felt long, but knowing Levi, it had been a curt, very appropriate contact. That logic didn’t help with the glaze in Eren’s eyes though, as he grinned stupidly at his friend and the black-haired teen scowled right back at him.

 

“It was just a hug. Don’t let it get to your head!”

 

Man, from hero to zero, hm?

 

A second ago they had been enveloped in each other’s arms and now Levi seemed even more grumpy than usual.

 

“Let’s get out of here.”

 

“You’re the boss.”

 

Levi was at the door in a heartbeat and out of the room in the next, mumbling, that they needed to hurry if they wanted to cram any studying into the remainder of the lunch break. Eren released a low sigh and tipped his head back to gaze at the ceiling and send a quick prayer for strength and guidance to the heavens, before he followed his friend.

 

The little ball of conflicting emotions had already reached the end of the corridor and was out of Eren’s sight a moment later, after rounding a corner in the direction of the cafeteria.

 

 _Ugh, Jesus Christ_!

 

He got it: there wasn’t much time left, but was it really necessary that Levi ran even faster than usual? People might start to believe that Eren had the fucking plague, if they spotted the senior fleeing from him like his mom from an oversized spider.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi, you little idiot… You can run from a lot of things, but not from Eren.
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter. Anyone ever had to deal with that? I certainly did, thankfully not in school but in the afternoon when I was out and about with some friends after school. I can tell you: I wasn't exactly a little ray of sunshine when it happened, more in the "I want to die" kind of mood (You know, dramatic teenage antics…). I certainly wish I had a friend like Eren at the time.
> 
> The thing with Hange happened to me as well, but a little later, when I was in university. I studied chemistry and we actually all had a second pair of pants in our locker when we did lab work. A decent, professional lab coat protects you from most things but casual pants, even jeans, are a different story and most of us stripped at one point or another in the middle of the lab, when some questionable fluids hit our legs (before they could seep through the fabric of the pants). Believe me, you rather want to show your undies to 200 fellow students for two minutes, than get heavy metal poisoning or even worse things, because there is a lot of shit that immediately affects you on skin contact.
> 
> Alright, enough rambling. I don't even know if anyone cares about my little anecdotes, but you get them nonetheless. *lol


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a little of a hard chapter. I didn't have a ton of time in the last days and wrote in between, whenever I had a moment to spare, instead of writing it mostly in one go. When I was done, I didn't like it *lol* and spent some time doctoring around to fix it up but that didn't work out. Eventually I just let it sit for a bit and now I'm kind of okay with it again? Doesn't have to make sense, I guess writing is like that sometimes. Compared to the other chapters, it's a little on the short side, but I'll try to make up for it with the next chapter. I hope you enjoy :)

 

 

“Ugh, get off me, you oversized puppy!”

 

Eren’s side pressed into Levi’s more firmly, as they sat on the floor in the senior’s room and the younger teen did his very best to distract his friend from what was happening on the screen in front of them.

 

The constant nudging, that almost managed to tip Levi to the side, wasn’t appreciated, but the brunet didn’t really care about the colorful complaints flying in his direction. There was no venom in them anyways.

 

If one was to ask Eren, he would say that Levi had only himself to blame. For one, the young man was a freaking monster when it came to video games and such a trait didn’t mesh well with his junior’s fierce competitiveness. Aside from that, it had been the black-haired boy who initiated their first brief but close physical contact a few days ago, when he had hugged Eren in the middle of the classroom.

 

Tough luck, the floodgates were open now and there was no shutting him down anymore.

 

The brunet was a tactile person, who was often seen with an arm around Mikasa’s shoulder – okay, pissing Jean off had a part in that too –, mussing up Armin’s perfect golden strands or pinching Krista’s cheek when she was too darn cute for her own good.

 

And now he had added Levi to the list of recipients for affectionate coddling.

 

Well, in this very moment he tried his damn hardest to bug him, but the intention was basically the same.

 

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

 

“God damned, Eren! You’re worse than Hange!”

 

Not the first time this happened. Levi had compared him to the excitable, auburn-haired girl a few times already, because apparently, they shared two distinctive and _fucking annoying_ – Levi’s words, not Eren’s – attributes.

 

  1. Hange had no idea what ‘personal space’ meant. Eren wasn’t quite on board with that, he understood the concept very well, like when Jean entered his field of vision and his personal space suddenly expanded to the scope of the building. There was no convincing Levi though.
  2. When you offered Hange your pinky, she ripped your whole damn arm off. Asking her an innocent question or giving her the smallest impression that you where interested in what she said, usually caused her to launch into an endless monologue about whatever she was currently occupied with – You were trapped. Forever. Good luck with that. – and since Eren had taken Levi’s hug as an eternal invitation to touch him, the comparison wasn’t so far off.



 

It didn’t matter though.

 

Despite all his grumbling, Levi never really shut down his attempts to get closer to him and his complaints were weak at best.

 

_Seriously? Oversized puppy? Come on, I know you can do better than that_.

 

Not that Eren had any issues with that. If anything, he quite enjoyed their new proximity and Levi’s reluctant yielding, if one wanted to call it this way.

 

In reality, it was a little different, because while the upperclassman outwardly displayed blatant displeasure whenever Eren got cozy with him, the brunet had an inkling, that Levi actually quite enjoyed their newfound closeness.

 

A little tsundere, if you so want, and no: the younger boy would never be stupid enough to actually voice that, but he knew that something had shifted between them.

 

With the announcement of Eren’s loss on the screen – what where they playing again? – he made a last ditch effort, to double his strength and while he had never so much as moved the upperclassman before, probably because of all those damn muscles, he finally shoved Levi hard enough to topple him over and followed right behind, now that the sturdy wall he had leaned against, was suddenly gone.

 

“Ouch!”

 

Eren landet on the senior, who was half on his back and half on his side, in a less than graceful manner. The controller had tumbled from his fingers, his face squished into something hard – Ribs? Abs? The impenetrable wall of Levi’s aloofness? – and their legs formed a chaotic heap of limbs on the floor.

 

“You’re such a damn baby sometimes…”

 

“Why did you even fall? You never fall!”, accused – or rather mumbled – Eren into Levi’s shirt, that was plastered against his face, without bothering to pick himself up.

 

“Didn’t pay attention. I looked at my phone.”

 

The brunet raised his head slightly and sure enough, there was a small, black device on the floor, right next to Levi’s empty right hand, where it must have escaped his grip.

 

“Are you going to move your ass this century?”

 

“Na. ‘S comfortable.”

 

As if to prove his point, he ducked down again and buried his face in the soft cotton of his friend’s shirt. It wasn’t comfortable per se, with Levi being all hard planes and sharp edges beneath him, but Eren wasn’t going to tell him that in truth, it was the senior’s warmth seeping into his own skin, that made him want to snuggle closer.

 

Just like last time, the older teenager smelt nice. The slight notes of masculine soap and aftershave, but nothing too harsh or overpowering, mixing with the mild detergent of the shirt and below it all: Levi.

 

It was unique and nice and nothing like the hundreds of students at school who either stunk, as if they were in dire need of a shower or carried the scent of a whole parfum factory on their body.

 

Especially the girls tended to douse themselves in cheap fragrances, that one could detect from the opposite side of the building and the sweetness of the scents was enough to give Eren headaches.

 

Unsurprisingly, Jean was usually right there among them, smelling like a walking AXE collection himself.

 

His friend groaned and twisted beneath him, seemingly deciding that his awkward position was too uncomfortable to bear. He made some weak attempts at shoving Eren off him, but his main focus was on turning onto his back, which – thanks to his junior’s added weight and the brunet making himself extra heavy in order to not be pushed away – was a feat in itself.

 

When Levi finally managed to hit the ground with his shoulder blades, Eren was sprawled out on top of his torso, as if the older boy was his newest body pillow, but despite it all, he didn’t appear upset.

 

On the contrary: The brunets head began to jump a little on Levi’s chest soon after, when it shook from the upperclassman’s low, but openly amused chuckle.

 

“You really are like a damn dog.”

 

“Keep saying that and I’ll ask you to pick up my shit.”

 

“God, you’re disgusting.”

 

“Hey, you can’t have all the benefits without any of the responsibilities.”

 

Another small laugh rumbled through Levi and Eren felt it on his face, together with the steady sound of a heartbeat, where he pressed his ear against the other’s chest.

 

“Seriously though… can you get off me?”

 

His friend sounded a little winded and Eren craned his neck and removed his head from where it had been tucked against Levi’s defined pectoral, to look up at him.

 

Slitted silver eyes locked with his own immediately. The older boy’s chin was tilted to his own chest in an effort to stare at the brunet and Eren grinned, as his gaze wandered over Levi’s features.

 

Damn, he was so fucking pale. Here and there he thought he spotted a slim, blue vein beneath almost translucent skin, as if the senior was some kind of vampire or nobleman.

 

His nose was surprisingly small and while his face didn’t have any overly masculine angles, it looked sharp and defined. Levi didn’t need a prominent jawline; he could probably cut diamonds with his cheekbones.

 

The color of his eyes was so light, that it almost seemed as if they were glowing from within and even his long, thick lashes couldn’t veil the shining gray behind its black curtain.

 

_Pretty_ , he thought, as he looked down at Levi’s lips. Thin, but soft looking and parted ever so slightly to reveal his perfectly straight, white teeth.

 

“Eren…”

 

Now he sounded more like he was groaning, and the brunet’s gaze snapped back up, only now realizing that there was a small frown edged between Levi’s drawn eyebrows.

 

_Oh, oops_.

 

“Everything okay?”

 

“You’re heavy.” A pink tongue darted out and the older wet his lips. “And you’re crushing my balls.”

 

“Ah, shit!”

 

Eren hastily scrambled off him. He hadn’t even thought about their close proximity or how near he had been to Levi’s junk and he put immediate effort into not starting with it now.

 

As if to not only placate his friend, but also distract his own mind, he quickly launched into a heartfelt apology.

 

“Man, I’m so sorry! Some asshole kicked me in the nuts when I was twelve. I swear, I heard the angels singing. Thought I would die right where I was curled up on the ground. Y-You’re okay though, right?”

 

He patted Levi’s thigh sheepishly and the older answered with an affirmative grunt, before he rolled to his side and shoved his hand down his pants to adjust himself.

 

_What the_ …

 

Eren averted his eyes after a moment of surprised staring and berated himself internally for where his thoughts were heading with the speed of light.

 

_'Geez, there is nothing weird about this. It’s Levi, the nicest dude in the history of bro’s. And anyways, guys adjust themselves all the time! Well, maybe not Armin, or Marco, or… Whatever. It probably hurt like a bitch. You’ve seen men touch their dick in front of you. You’ve seen your_ dad _touch his dick in front of you! Okay, no, not going there. Not the point. This is perfectly normal. Everything is okay. Everything is– ‘_

 

“What crawled up your ass?”

 

His head snapped back in the direction of his senior, but the older teen had already gotten up from the ground and stood at his desk, cleaning his hand with a wet wipe.

 

Watching the white paper towel run along Levi’s fingers, did _not_ help. It rather looked as if his friend had just finished to… to…

 

_Ugh!_

 

Eren felt the telltale prickle of heat rising up his neck and announcing that his face would look like a tomato within the next thirty seconds.

 

Seriously, had someone hexed him to slowly shift into Armin? Was he going to sprout blond hair tomorrow?

 

“Oi, are you alright? You look as if you’re the one who got his crown jewels smashed, not me.”

 

“Ah, I, uh…”

 

_Pure poetry_.

 

Running his hand through his thick, brown hair, he shook his head silently. Thinking about it clearly, he really couldn’t come up with a single reason for being so flabbergasted.

 

He had hurt Levi and the older teenager had just… just… fixed it?

 

It was perfectly fine, everything was perfectly okay, and he just needed to behave normal, get his shit together and stop thinking about–

 

“Actually, I just, uh… remembered that I told my mom I’d help her with… eh… cooking?”

 

What the hell, Eren? _What the fucking hell?!_

 

He knew he couldn’t act for shit. He couldn’t pretend and he couldn’t lie and even worse: Levi knew it too.

 

Which explained the confused, but scrutinizing glare the senior sent his way.

 

“What?”

 

“Cooking?”

 

No use in trying to fix it by adding some sort of more reasonable explanation. He had dug himself a hole and blabbered some bullshit. Now he had to run with it.

 

They both knew he was making it up anyways.

 

“So, uh, I’ll get going, yeah? I see you tomorrow?”

 

Maybe Levi would have given him an answer if Eren had offered an opportunity to do so, but chances were high, that instead of acknowledging it, he would have drilled him with questions – and a few well-placed insults – about why he was suddenly spouting this nonsense.

 

As it was, the brunet had already flung himself towards the door under his friend’s incredulous gaze, before he fled the room and jumped down the stairs towards the exit of the house.

 

Shit, this was so _dumb_.

 

They had been having _fun_ and nothing out of the ordinary had happened, but because he was an idiot, Eren had basically put a spotlight on the whole situation.

 

Levi was smart, frighteningly so and it wouldn’t take him a full minute to put two and two together.

 

And then he would think – well, _know_ – that Eren had felt awkward, for some ridiculous, moronic reason, in a situation that didn’t even warrant it at all.

 

And then Levi would probably feel awkward too.

 

And maybe he would start avoiding him, because the older teen had already admitted once, during their conversation about Petra, that he wasn’t the best in talking things out and Eren wasn’t even that close to him. They only knew each other for a few weeks!

 

And everyone would realize that their study session stopped, and the fucking fangirl club would start rumors about him, and he would lose Mikasa’s friendship because she was going to think that Eren had been a dick to her brother.

 

He could picture it already: Life as he knew it was over.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More youth anecdotes! For those of you who wonder: No, Eren's dad isn't a weirdo who whips his dick out in front of his son. I'm speaking from my own experience here. I grew up in a very liberal household (You know, back in the days when posting a picture of yourself and your naked baby together in a bathtub didn't cause a shit storm on social media)  
> Even when I was a teenager, we didn't even lock the bathroom door. I was free to do as I wanted and my parents respected my privacy but it was their home too and they certainly didn't carry clothes around when they had a shower or stuff like that. They left the bathroom naked and dressed in their own room. Needless to say, I got an eye full many times. I never found it gross or anything like that. Those were my parents, who had brought me into the world and that was just how they were. It certainly helped with my own confidence and acceptance of my body, because I learned that being naked was nothing to be ashamed about. Obviously I don't run around naked all the time but in my own home, with my own family, I could always be who I am and nobody judged me, when they looked at me. So yes: The first dick I saw wasn't my boyfriend's or in some porn. It was my dad's. (Ugh! >_<)


End file.
